It's Good To Be Alive!
by Illusor Meaneld
Summary: Vincent on a Motorcycle, Turks On Duty, No Pairings unless you count Yuffie's delusions, Potentially Cloud x Tifa, Cid x Shera Some people aren't as dead as they look, some Cloud Bashing, LITTERAL Reno bashing.
1. Vincent's Motorcycle

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 1: Vincent's Motorcycle

Summary: Vincent on a Motorcycle, Cloud with bad ideas.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Vincent looked down at the handlebars grasped tightly in his right hand.

_What had convinced him to agree to this?_ He sat rigidly on the motorbike, the engine puttering softly but so far the Ex-Turk hadn't garnered the courage to start moving.

_Why had he allowed himself to be talked into this?_ The answers to his questions eluded him, no matter how hard he reconsidered; still he sat motionless on his bike. For almost a year the misfit group of heroes once known as AVALANCHE had been teasing him about his lack of transportation. Vincent shook his head, remembering the glint in Cloud's eyes as the Self-proclaimed SOLDIER had brought out this fixed-up motorcycle some random fan had given the blonde.

_Why?_ Vincent questioned his sanity once again. His forlorn sigh seemed to drag away down the mountain; he stood in the middle of the winding road leading through the pass towards the Chocobo Farm. Several members of the group had decided to meet up there. Cid was holding a party in celebration of his firstborn child, and had decided to pick everyone up at the farm.

_This is incredibly stupid. _He thought firmly, His gaze lifted to the sky, intensely blue with just a handful of white puffs floating across it, the sun was slowly setting, and with a sigh Vincent realized if he didn't move along soon it would be dark before he reached the valley. Already the mountain winds were bitingly cold, tugging insistently at the tattered ends of his thick red cloak. Resignedly he finally twisted his leather-gloved hand on the handle, the engine roared, the bike shot forward mere moments after Vincent settled into it, somehow Cloud had learned that Vincent knew how to ride. The ex-Turk reflected sourly that it had been easily 40 years since he had ever touched one, and Vincent had never considered himself very good at it. As if to emphasize his mental claim the bike staggered underneath him, his breath caught in his throat and impulsively his grip on the handles tightened. With another scream the bike launched forward, Vincent barely avoided riding straight off the cliff face.

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!! _He decided that at this point he probably would have rather walked across the mountain. But as he watched the road blur past a chill stabbed through him as he realized he wasn't sure he remembered how to stop.

_Which one is the front, and which is the back brake?_ Panic set in, cooling him faster than the winds could. Impossibly his speeds seemed to be increasing, the cold air whipped past him stinging his eyes and dragging tears across his face. He tried to loosen his hands but they refused to respond, his metal claw seemed embedded in the grips. So preoccupied was he with his plight that he didn't notice he was drifting into the other lanes until a loud and insistent honking snapped his attention to the road ahead. A giant cargo truck bore down on him, and for a moment Vincent was frozen by the headlights. Then as the adrenaline flooded his system and his Turk training snapped in he swerved to the side. His gut wrenched as a sound much akin to crunching tin-cans met his ears, his world spun and for one confused moment he saw the road from all directions. Then everything was replaced with blue and Vincent realized he was somehow air-borne. Before the import of this situation could dawn on him his breath exploded from his chest as he was driven painfully into the ground. The impact tossed him up again and now gasping he stared in horror as he rolled in the air and the rocky sides of the cliff came up to meet him again. He squeezed his eyes shut tucking his head down as the rocks shoved into his stomach, Pain seared his back racing down his arm as something heavy collided with him, his momentum didn't stop there as he rolled further down the steep cliffs, his vision was darkening and stars seemed to flash along the backs of his eyelids, straining to remain conscious Vincent peered out just as he fell against his own bike, that had somehow twinned itself into his decent. Fire burst across his belly and knives drove into his back and shoulders. Still trying vainly to gasp for breath Vincent gave up trying to track the pain barraging him. His consciousness quickly faded as the bike and the rocks his descent had dislodged clattered down the mountain with him, Battering and stabbing him slicing across his pale flesh. Finally a large stone met with his forehead robbing him of all awareness. His limp form toppled down still further, even after the wreckage of the bike had snagged itself on a rocky outcropping, the red and black form slumped to a halt under the trees that lined the mountain's trails.

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Cloud sighed heavily toeing the grass absently as Tifa chatted amiably with Cid, Nanaki was laying peacefully on the ground, apparently napping and the Cait Sith doll sat emotionlessly next to the big beast.

"How much longer are we waiting here?" Cloud finally chimed in, ignoring the fact he had quite rudely interrupted Tifa's discussion. Tifa rolled her eyes and glanced at Cid pointedly, as though she wondered about the same thing.

"Well…" Cid scratched at his stubble, his head upturned in thought. "Lemme see, Reeve's already back home with Shera, Yuffie insisted on meeting us here, didn't want me to pick her up." He ticked the names off with his fingers, "Barret should be here any minute. And then… after that we're just waiting for Vincent." His gaze traveled to Cloud, "Hey wasn't Vin getting' a ride with you?" Cloud blinked and then his face twisted into a grin.

"Oh yeah! Don't worry about him… He'll be showing up pretty soon." He chuckled to himself, "You guys remember how we're always saying Vincent needs some sort of transportation right?" Cid and Tifa both stared at him, The later interrupting quickly,

"You didn't get him a Chocobo did you? I thought he was allergic!"

"No, no… I didn't get him a chocobo." Cloud corrected hastily,

"I can't really see Vin driving a car around…" Cid muttered,

"You can't afford a car on your income Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed in some alarm.

"No! I didn't get him a car!" Cloud snapped,

"A helicopter would also be way out of your range!" Tifa reflected,

"You better not have gotten him some kinda Airship!" Cid growled,

"NO!!!" Cloud shouted, waving his hands to stop the influx of even more outrageous suggestions, "I couldn't get him a Chopper! And HOW would I get him an Airship? NO! I got him a Bike!" He finally managed to announce proudly. Cid and Tifa both froze, mouth's agape at him.

"You mean…" Cid began still staring in disbelief, "That that poor man is pedaling his way up that mountain on a BICYCLE??"

"NO!!! No, a Motorcycle! A Motor bike!!" Cloud cried in exasperation, Throwing up his hands.

"Can Vincent even ride a motorcycle Cloud?" Tifa asked warily,

"Sure he can! According to Rude all Turks can use them!"

"Uh…" Cid and Tifa exchanged glances, "Cloud… you do realize it has to have been at least 30 years since Vincent was a Turk." Tifa began, "They might not have used Motorcycles back then."

Cloud waved the argument off, "Don't worry I asked about that part. They did."

Cid snorted skeptically, "Does poor Vin even remember which one is the Front brake, and which is the back?" Cloud suddenly appeared less certain,

"He should… I mean, it's not something you forget right? … they don't change that around on bikes…. Do they?" Tifa looked confused,

"Front and back? Why should that matter?" Cid scrubbed at his chin again,

"Well… y'see if you're riding a bike, and you hit the Front brake first… you'll send yourself flying over the handle-bars." Cloud shuffled a little nervously in place, Tifa turned to stare at him again.

"You gave him that custom bike that one kid gave you didn't you." Cloud's head lowered a little further,

"I'm sure he'll be alright… he's… probably walking it or something, I bet he chickened out!"

Cid and Tifa once again shared a look. "You dared him." It was a statement, and Tifa sighed heavily. "I sure hope you're right Cloud."


	2. Stolen Chocobo

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 2: Stolen Chocobo

Chapter Summary: Vincent: "Ugh… Gurk…", Yuffie arrives.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Burning pain woke Vincent from unconsciousness; he gasped and was instantly rewarded with icy stabs in his ribs. He was lying partially on his side, with his right arm trapped beneath him. His face and skin felt stiff and sticky and his eyes refused to open, he was incredibly cold, and the icy wind seared his lungs with every shallow breath. It was all he could do to stay awake, the blackness hovered just beyond him, and he knew if he lapsed again he would probably die. He focused beyond the pain to his left hand, he couldn't see it, but he twitched it experimentally, he hissed as pain lanced up his shoulder, waves of nausea washed over him, and for a while he gulped and breathed, grasping tightly to the fading wisps of consciousness. A snapping noise reached his ears, and he instinctively stiffened, sending ripples of pain throughout his body, he failed to stifle a whimper. Barely he registered the approaching sounds, soft crunching like something moving across the leaves and pine-needles of the forest floor. Fearing some sort of hungry creature, Vincent held his breath, and tried to move off of his gun hand, the sharp agony made him gasp and he felt the darkness washing over him again. He heard a sound but couldn't make out what it was as he slipped once again into unconsciousness.

When next he struggled back to the surface of awareness, Vincent found himself moving, the jolting pain that accompanied the motion made him groan. Two strong arms wrapped under him, one under his knees and the other supporting his shoulders. His carrier was trying to be gentle but Vincent still hissed as fire lanced his ribs and belly. His head was limp and the swaying was making him nauseous, He tried to open his eyes, and nothing happened, he couldn't move his eyelids at all, Fear stabbed through him, sending ice down his already cold spine. With a cry he started to flail, agony raced through him, exploding in his head and for the third time that day he passed out.

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Tifa stood gazing at the orange, purple and crimson sunset sky, sighing and marveling at the beautiful colors. A banged up and rusty truck was parked nearby, And Barret stood arguing heatedly in good-nature with Cid. The expletives almost echoed through the valley, but the rest of them were far to accustomed to it to pay any mind. Tifa's musings were interrupted by a chipper voice, that seemed to simply appear out of the air.

"Hiya guys!" Yuffie called happily, "How is everyone today?"

Cid, Tifa and Cloud turned offering their own greetings, Then Tifa frowned, "How ever did you get here Yuffie?" The Shinobi grinned,

"It's a Ninja secret!" She said with a wink, suddenly a loud 'Wark' sounded behind her, and the shuffling of feathers as a Chocobo disappeared into the Barns. Flushing quickly Yuffie laughed,

"Was that my S-Class GOLD Chocobo?!" Cloud gaped, watching the metallic bird disappear into the barn.

"What Chocobo?" Yuffie chuckled nervously, "I don't know what you're talking about! I certainly wouldn't STEAL one or anything…" Tifa quickly put a restraining hand on Cloud as the Self-Proclaimed SOLDIER glowered darkly at the Ninja.

"That's not really that important foo," Barret interrupted, "What we should be thinkin' about is who we're still waitin' for."

"Vin" Cid said quickly, and both he and Tifa glanced at Cloud, Now it was his turn to flush and shuffle uncomfortably. Yuffie and Barret glance between them but just looked confused,

"Cloud gave Vincent a Motorcycle." Tifa explained, Yuffie gasped excitedly,

"Wow! Vinny would look SO cool on a Motorbike!"

Barret shrugged, "I still don' see what the problem is, why old Vince isn't here yet?"

Tifa sighed, "We think he doesn't really know how to ride one."

Cloud dropped his head in shame, "I didn't… I mean I thought he could…" The Blonde warrior stuttered, "I'm sure he'll be here really soon!!" Tifa once again rested a forestalling hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe we should go look for him?" Yuffie suggested,

"We'd probably miss 'im completely," Barret said with a quick shake of his head, "Better off to wait a little longer and see if the foo' shows up."

The rest of them slowly nodded in agreement, Cloud sighed and Yuffie's head dropped in disappointment.


	3. Yuffie's Boyfreind

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 3: Yuffie's Boyfreind

Chapter Summary: Vincent has nightmares, The start of the Search.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Vincent seemed to be floating in the darkness, grasping for the consciousness that eluding him. Drifting in and out enough to hear vague voices, but never close enough to wake. His left arm burned, with fever but it was a dim sensation, as though far away from his meandering awareness. A low chuckling caught his muddled attention; here in the black void of his mind, he was not alone.

**_What are you doing?... _**A deep baritone whispered through his mind, **_Does your own existence mean so little?... _**

Vincent scowled mentally, _This wasn't my fault!_ The voice chuckled,

_**You knew it was stupid… You must have wanted to die… **_

A wrenching terror flooded his thoughts,_ Am I dead?_ The cruel laughter made him shudder.

**_And what of the car you hit?... Did they go down with you?... How many lives have you stolen?…_**

_No! It was an accident!_ Vincent inner self gasped, Outrage flooded him, _It wasn't my fault!!_ But with the anger came another, the darkness tinged with red as the hatred filled him, the hunger for flesh and blood. _NO!!_ He screamed, The voice laughed sadistically, all of it fading as he finally gasped awake screaming hoarsely. He tried to thrash out, ignoring the lancing pains, but something held him down a voice spoke quickly and calmingly and after a moment Vincent relaxed, gasping for breath.

"Shhhhh… shhhh… it was a nightmare I think." The deep tenor voice soothed, "Don't move, you'll reopen your wounds!" Vincent didn't recognize the speaker; he was lying on his back, something like blankets or cushions underneath him. Once again he tried vainly to open his eyes, when nothing happened he rasped out in alarm.

"My … eyes…" For a few moments there was silence.

"I'm getting to that…" came the tenor, and Vincent felt something warm and wet brush against his cheek, there was something coating his face he realized, and his unknown benefactor was wiping at it with some sort of cloth. Slowly the crusty dry coating sealing his left eye shut was loosened, with some effort Vincent peeled his eyelid open enough to glance hazily up. His vision was blurry and red clumped on his eyelashes, his face must have been covered in blood he realized. The figure leaning over him was white, but Vincent's unfocused gaze refused to show him any details.

"Dead…?" He managed to whisper, his throat was sore, and the breath ached in his lungs. The figure hesitated,

"What?"

"Am… I, dead?"

"No…. you're not dead…" the white form sounded confused,

"Aren't… you … an angel?" Vincent whispered, the white form seemed glorious, practically haloed, and his confused mind still echoed with the deep, mocking laughter. A chuckle sounded above him,

"Not really," The white one was amused, "Just a hermit … I think." Vincent sighed, knowing he wasn't blind was intensely relieving, not being dead seemed a good thing too. Just speaking for that little while was tiring, his body ached, and his left arm throbbed, This concerned the gunman a little, but he didn't have the energy to consider it in depth, and shortly thereafter he drifted back to sleep.

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Night was slowly settling into the mountains, the temperatures were dropping dramatically; sending the now-searching team of Ex- heroes wandering the mountain roads in freezing darkness. Calling the name of their red-cloaked comrade, their pathway lit by several fire Materia and Nanaki's ever-so-convenient tail. The search had already spanned a good amount of time, and the group of friends were becoming increasingly apprehensive. Ironically it was Nanaki who first spotted the evidence of Vincent's unfortunate crash.

"Skid marks…" the Blood-lion breathed. Tifa turned quickly dropping to the ground with her glowing fire-Materia in hand for a better view.

"Hey you guys!" she called the rest of them closer, "Nanaki found something!" The others gathered quickly, and with growing dread followed the spinning marks of black rubber off the edge of the road. A few choice words spat from Cid's mouth as he spotted the bits and pieces of metal that had once belonged to a Motorbike. The wreckage was scattered all the way down the hill, lodged in rocks and grass, and leaving all too clear a trail as to where their solemn companion had gone. It took them almost half an hour to pick their way down the mountain side far enough to find what was left of the bike itself. And this time Barret let out a stream of words young children ought not to hear. The Bike was covered in blood, and had a few strips of fabric from Vincent's cape snagged in its workings. The Left handle-bar was mutilated with very evident marks from the gunman's clawed gauntlet.

"Looks like it caught on 'im." Cid exclaimed with a broad wince. Nanaki wandered further, following the rocks and spatters of blood, and eventually found something that made his own blood run cold.

"G-guys?" He whimpered, sitting down abruptly, the shuffling of footsteps heralded the approach of the others. A collective gasp ran through their midst as they stared at the soggy patch of ground that was all too obviously soaked with blood. More bits of fabric and pieces of rock and glass were scattered in the scuffed dirt, but no further sign of the Ex-Turk could they find.

"OH MY GOSH!" Yuffie screeched, "You KILLED Vincent! You BUMSTER!!" whirling the young Ninja drove her foot into the mortified Cloud's shin, Tifa rushed to separate the two as Yuffie began to pummel the shocked blonde.

"Yuffie! Yuffie! Calm down!" Tifa yelled,

"I was gonna Make him my BOYFREIND!" The Shinobi wailed, suddenly the group went silent, turning to stare incredulously at their youngest friend. "What?" Yuffie pouted, "He's HOT!" Her glare whirled on Cloud again, "But Now he's DEAD!!" Cloud reeled backwards, as though struck.

"No… I didn't…. It wasn't… I…." the Blonde stuttered,

"Wait!" Tifa waved frantically, "There's no body! We don't know for sure he's dead!"

"He must have been eaten by wild Animals!" Yuffie snapped,

"We don' know that either!" Barret added quickly,

"If we were here sooner we could have saved him! It's just like AERIS all over again!" Yuffie shrieked, everyone whirled staring in horror.

"YUFFIE!" Came the collectively appalled scold. Cloud looked stricken. Tifa hurriedly patted the Self-Proclaimed SOLDIER on the back,

"It's okay Cloud, it's not like that, I'm sure Vincent would forgive you…" She slapped her hands over her own mouth as Cloud gasped, his blue eyes were wide with shock and tears began to stream down his face. Cid gazed in some astonishment,

"Cloud… are you… crying?" Cloud's head snapped up and hastily he scrubbed at his own face with his sleeve,

"No… I'm not…" He hiccoughed loudly, "I'm not crying!" the audible sniffling indicated otherwise. Suddenly Barret moved behind the group leader, wrapping his arms around the blonde,

"'sokay Cloud, It wasn't your fault." The big man reassured,

"He's right Cloud," Tifa affirmed, adding her own hug for comfort."

"Group hug everyone!" Cid laughed, wrapping one arm around the shorter blonde's shoulders. Nanaki looked at his paws in disappointment,

"I don't have opposable thumbs…" He muttered sadly.

"I do!" The cat-doll cried, diving on top of the group of humans. Yuffie turned away in broken-hearted disgust.


	4. Cid's Bonfire

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 4: Cid's Bonfire.

Chapter Summary: Rude and Reno join the search, The mysterious stranger revealed, Cid gets his bonfire.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Rude stretched his legs under the table with a sigh, _This was only supposed to be a 20 minute break._ He mused watching his red-headed partner chattering amiably with the apparently plastered Trucker. The driver was waving his hands describing some scene as though from a nightmare.

"It was this huge red beast! With Claws and fangs… and… and it just Came AT me! Growling and roaring! … I was just driving my truck… down the mountains, Didn't think anything would be bold enough to attack me in broad daylight!" The man wove his tale with exaggerated gestures. Reno was laughing and happily sloshing his own can of beer. Rude frowned, _A large red creature?_ But he just shook his head, dismissing the image that came to mind. The ear piece speaker in Rude's right ear chimed softly,

"This is Tseng… the president wants both of you to report immediately." Rude sighed, and Reno glanced at his watch.

"Sorry yo!" He interrupted the raving man. "Got an appointment to meet… How about I let you finish your story when I clock out y'know?" The trucker blinked blearily at the red-head, then with a roar of laughter slapped the young Turk across the shoulders, Reno staggered, gasping as he waved good-bye to the overly amused drunk. A few moments later they were jogging down the road to the Healin Lodge, bantering good-naturedly back and forth. The moment they stepped through the doors however, their voices went silent. Before them in his wheel-chair sat Rufus, he no longer sported the enveloping cloak, and his piercing blue eyes landed on Reno.

"You're late." The President reminded them, Rude cleared his throat, but said nothing. After a moment Rufus continued, "I have a mission for you." Reno's eyes widened,

"A mission Sir?" Rufus's lips quirked,

"Yes, It seems AVALANCHE is up to something in the mountains South-East of here." Reno coughed lightly,

"I don't think they can really be called 'AVALANCHE' anymore yo." Rude nudged his partner sharply in the ribs, "Ow… oh I mean Sir." Not bothering to acknowledge Reno's comment Rufus continued,

"Our suspicions are that they may have found something concerning JENOVA." Reno paused cocking his head to one side.

"JENOVA? I dunno about that y-…Sir." At Rufus' raised eyebrow he shuffled a little. "I think they might be… y'know... lookin' for one of their weird friends." For a moment Rufus was silent,

"Explain." The president insisted softly. Reno grinned,

"Ya see, I was talking to this truck-driver fellow, and he said that there was some kinda large rabid red-colored monster runnin' around over there! So maybe that cat-thing they always run around with has gone Psycho." Rufus glanced at Rude as though to verify this claim, but the bald man simply shrugged, some similar scenario had occurred to him while the Trucker was speaking but now it seemed less and less probable.

"Fine then." Rufus decided, "Go investigate the Rabid Monster."

"What?" Reno choked, "If Cloud and those guys are taking care of things, why do they need our help?" Another painful jab from Rude, "Ow… uh… Sir."

"There is still the possibility of JENOVA…" Rufus insisted, but his explanations were cut short by Tseng, who stepped in from the other room with a steaming mug.

"The President is bored." The esteemed Turk leader informed the pair curtly, handing the Hot coffee to his blonde-haired superior.

"Bored?" Reno gasped incredulously. Rufus sighed and then straightened with a shrug.

"Yes bored, so get going!" He snapped impatiently. Still dumbfounded Reno simply stood there, mouth agape as Rude dragged him forcefully from the room before the red-head could do anything monumentally stupid.

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As Vincent slowly rose out of the deepest of sleeps into the lighter, dream filled slumber, the voice restlessly plagued him once again.

**_You are a Monster…_** it whispered; **_the man who helped you will kill you for it._**

Vincent tried vainly to ignore the voice, but it existed in his own mind.

**_If he does not kill you ... how do you know you won't kill him? You're lack of humanity shows more and more with the passage of time…_**

Vincent winced, his thoughts drifting unbidden to the arm beneath the gauntlet. The dark blue-grey skin, fur and dainty scales…

**_You will be consumed…_** the voice laughed, **_Soon even the mortals will see you for what you are…_**

Another gut-wrench as horror filled him, he'd seen the dark tainted flesh slowly spreading, its corruption had already well passed the scars Hojo had given him. The thought of slowly transforming made him shudder with fear.

**_You are mine…_** the voice seemed to whisper through his ears, **_Soon the rest of your friends will belong to me too…_**

_NO!!!_ Vincent snarled, and again his anger brought the blood-haze, the driving hunger, The Mocking laughter, and once more he woke his voice tearing from his throat.

"AAAUUGH!" Came the Tenor, the startled shout followed by a loud thump and muttered oaths. Vincent lay there staring at the wood-paneled ceiling, breathing quickly as his heart settled itself. It took several moments before he realized his vision was no longer impaired. He blinked several times, glorying in the revelation, he shifted his weight slightly, most of the pain had been seriously diminished, numbed to a dull ache. The shuffling of cloth heralded the approach of his mysterious "white" rescuer, and Vincent blinked as the form leaned over him apprehensively,

"Are you alright?..." the man began to ask, but he was quickly interrupted by another hoarse shout from the injured gunman. Reeling backwards and hastily clapping both hands to his ears the would-be protector yelped, Vincent continued to stare, The person before him was tall, dressed in a white shirt, and loose white pants. Green eyes stared in confusion from beneath long silver-white bangs. His hair, tied back in a loose pony-tail was the same Silvery color, almost metallic, and Vincent could never forget that face.

"S-Sephiroth?!" The Gunman gasped, the young white-clothed man blinked back in astonishment,

"What?... How do you know my name?" Sephiroth stammered, Vincent frowned,

"Y… you're… but… you're dead! We killed you!" The silver-haired man shuffled nervously, standing slowly and dusting himself off,

"Um… well… that's a really really… it's … well, complicated." He muttered evasively, Vincent's frown deepened, this was not anything like the Sephiroth he remembered, this shy almost socially inept young man was nothing like the Cocky and insane warrior he had fought against, but Sephiroth continued, "um… but I hope you didn't… um… and … I just want you to know, I am no more dead than you are…" He decided finally, but his uncertain gaze drifted over Vincent's prone form. "Er… not that… I think that you're dead or anything…" He added quickly, apparently unnerved by Vincent's recognition. The gunman sighed, this might be a very long night.

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Cloud roughly dashed the last tears from his face and managed to extricate himself from the over-enthusiastic comfort pile.

"I'm okay you guys…" He muttered quickly, "We need to worry about Vincent!"

"Who got sucked into the ground…" Yuffie mumbled bitterly, hunching her shoulders rebelliously when Tifa and Barret glared at her.

"Lets fan out and search for a moment, see if we really can't find more evidence!" Cloud said gesturing to the trees around them,

"Wait a sec…" Cid interrupted, "Can't Red just sniff him out?" Nanaki wrinkled his own nose and scuffed the ground with one paw,

"Well… It's not that easy really you see…"

"Bullcrap it ain't easy!" Cid snapped back, tossing his cigarette to the ground in anger, "I've seen you…." But he never got further, Nanaki gave out a yelp and the explosion of fire sent all of them bolting for the trees, some patting at sparks and embers on their persons. And Cid himself yanking off his jacket and stomping on it.

"I was going to say…" Nanaki growled unhappily, "That the smell of Gasoline was masking any other scents I might follow."

"GREAT!!" Yuffie snapped, "Just great!" Now we don't even have a TRAIL thanks to Cid!" She ignored the collective angry gazes,

"I thought you'd decided 'e was dead?" Barret rumbled, Yuffie said something rude under her breath and turned away. Cloud dropped his head into his hands, rubbing at his temples, Tifa patted his back and rubbed his shoulders with one hand almost absently.

"Lets, start searching further," Cloud decided quickly, "We'll start spiraling outward from here, but I want EVERYONE to meet back every hour understand?" His gaze landed in particular on Yuffie, who grunted something noncommittal

"Sounds like a good Idea to me." Cid said, pumping one arm in the air enthusiastically, "Let's go you guys!" And with several nods they all slowly spread out, scanning carefully in the darkness. Yuffie snorted and dashed off through the trees to conduct her own investigation.


	5. The Old Hermit

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 5: The Old Hermit.

Chapter Summary: Reno meets someone new, and it's not a happy encounter.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

"This is so stupid yo…" Reno pronounced unhappily as they watched Elena and the helicopter disappear in the sky, glancing at the forest surrounding him, with the flashlight he'd been provided, the Turk sighed heavily, "Why do we have to be the president's entertainment?" Rude cleared his throat.

"I'm pretty sure he can still hear us."

"Wha?" Reno thought about this for a few moments and then spat into the dirt. "Yeah I guess that makes sense," He grumbled, "Can't be entertainment if he ain't watchin' us y'know?" Rude's lips twitched into a partial smile, "But this is really gonna suck yo." Reno finished, kicking a rock with one foot. He glanced around the broad expanse of dark forest and groaned, "Tell you what, you head a little that way and we'll be able to look around better, y'know? I got my phone and all, call me if ya find something." Rude shrugged, smiled, and ambled off into the forest. Reno grunted under his breath and walked about half-heartedly scanning the ground.

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Scuffling his way through the darkened forest paths, the old man sighed heavily, his long beard itched against his throat, and his hat had long since ceased to be comfortable, One knobbed stick supported his weight as he limped along, his hunched form slumped even farther as he sighed tiredly. "Long trip that one…" He muttered to himself, despite his aged appearance his voice was crisp and strong. "Can't wait for a nice soak and a change of clothes…" he stretched a little, scratching again at his thick grey beard. His absent-minded musings were cut short when he stepped into a clearing and found himself almost face-to-face with a red-headed man in a bedraggled but still blatantly recognizable suit. "GYAAAHH!" the old man cried, up went his walking stick, and with more strength than a man of his tenable years ought to have had, he brought it down on Reno's unfortunate head. The copper-haired youth dropped to the ground,

_What is a Turk doing here?_ The Old man wondered in some panic,

"What was THAT for Yo!" Reno cried sitting himself up slowly and clutching his head with both hands. The Man hesitated, then remembering his long wisdom and experience, shuffled, slowly.

"Er… I'm reel sorry 'bout that 'un youngun, Ya reely start'led me!" He announced in a cracking whiney voice. "We don' get many a' sheenrah fellows 'round 'eere much, … matter a fact… don't get many a fellow a'tall 'round these 'eere parts." The turk stared at him in some confusion, still rubbing his head with a wince,

"Look you old Geezer, I'm not just Shee… er Shinra, I'm a Turk, and…" He was interrupted when the large 'walking stick' smacked him sharply across the shoulders,

"Ya need ta respect yur elders Young'un!" The old mine griped with a beady-eyed glare,

"OW!!" Reno howled, staggering quickly to his feet and skittering out of the reach of the crazed hermit and his stick, "What are you hitting me for!" The turk yelped in indignation,

"I 'tain't no Geezar ya li'l whippersnapper, I'm on'lee sixtee five yeers young!" Shuffling still further backward Reno stared incredulously,

"Look old man, I don't mean to interrupt or bother you or anything I'm just looking for some… OW!!" That old man and the stick both were faster than Reno would have thought possible as now the Turk hopped on one foot clutching at his no-doubt bruised shin. "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM YO!!" He cried,

"Whad I say 'bout reespectin' yur elders ya brat? I 'ain't old!" The Old man snorted,

"For the love of…" Reno leapt backwards still more as the walking stick was waved at him threateningly, and after spouting a few choice expletives he retreated through the trees in the direction Rude had gone. Once the Turk was out of sight the old man chuckled softly to himself, but the smile faded quickly and in a few moments he was dashing off through the trees at a pace a decrepit man like him should not have been able to muster.


	6. Sephiroth's Truth

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 5: Sephiroth's Truth.

Chapter Summary: Sephiroth tells his story, Cloud and the others STILL search.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

"Okay okay… listen" Sephiroth now sat on the couch several feet away, trying hard to figure out how to explain his story. Vincent still lay on the floor, as much as he would have liked to shoot first, ask later… his arms were bandaged, his body weak, and his gun no where to be found. The Ex-SOLDIER twinned his fingers anxiously through his silver bangs. "This is gonna sound pretty out-there so bear with me." He began heaving a deep sigh. "So I was in SOLDIER right? I was a general and everything," He glanced at Vincent who nodded to indicate he understood this. "Anyways, some 10 or so years ago, I was assigned to this Mission to go check out a little village called Nibelheim." Again his gaze shifted over and he waved his hands quickly, "Now I know you've probably been to or seen Nibelheim or whatever… and I know it looks like a peaceful village and all that but please just listen." Not waiting for a response he continued, "So ten years Ago I went and checked the place out, supposedly there were a whole bunch of monsters running around and all that. Well… during our investigations we went up into the mountains and checked out the reactors there…" Another furtive glance, "Anyways we found out some absolutely horrible stuff! … er… well in Shinra there was this Crazy Scientist, his name was 'Hojo' right? ABSOLUTE Lunatic! Anyways it turns out this guy was making … and I mean MAKING Monsters in the reactors!" He paused here and when Vincent did not seem to react he gulped a little, "Er… anyways so Me and my subordinate who was with me decided we'd finally had enough, neither of us wanted to continue working for a company that would condone these kind of monstrosities…" Another deep breath, "So... we planned to desert,… me and my friend did, … but somehow Hojo found out about it. I still don't know how, and the little bastard drugged me and dragged me off." More glances and a nervous throat clearing, "Um… so anyways,… he hadn't caught my friend yet though, and so he put this weird Clone in my place…. Um… yeah, …" He coughed nervously, "So… this clone apparently went crazy, Hojo said something about it being controlled by the creature called 'JENOVA', and it burned down the town and killed everyone, almost killed my friend! ... ..." The story suddenly hesitated and Sephiroth leaned back with a sigh, "I know, it sounds like some stupid, Cliché horror flick doesn't it?" Vincent was silent for several more moments before he finally cleared his own throat.

"You mean… that the Sephiroth we chased, and killed …. Was a mere Clone?" Sephiroth winced,

"Yes… well… no, not exactly…. It was being controlled by JENOVA." Vincent thought about this some more, "You don't believe me … do you…" Sephiroth murmered, his face twisting into a bitter half-smile.

"… there are,… elements of your story that make some sense…" Vincent said calmly, "But the story as a whole… no, not yet." Sephiroth sighed,

"Didn't really expect you to…" He might have continued further except that at that particular moment the door slammed open and a bedraggled old man stomped in.

"Seph! There are Turks All over the mountain! I think they found us! We gotta do something!" He ranted his words practically tumbling over themselves, his eyes suddenly alighted on Vincent, "There's A DEAD GUY on the Floor!" He shouted, leaping backwards in shock, "I KNEW it wasn't just the clones! You're a Psychopath! You killed this guy! No wonder Shinra was lookin' around! What is WRONG with you??!!" The voice screaming all of these things was far younger than the face it belonged to, and despite the slight limp in his gait the 'old man' walked fairly straight and strong. Sephiroth glared daggers at the loud intruder,

"He's NOT DEAD!" The Ex-General growled, "Shut up will you? You'll lead those Turks right to us!"

"There's Blood everywhere!" The Old man cried, ignoring Sephiroth's protests, "They're gonna bring out the dogs! We'll be dragged back to that Lab…" Vincent had tolerated about as much as he could stand, he felt the edges of his vision fade a little, green and purple filtering painfully through his mind.

_**Kill them… kill them all, … hack them to pieces… watch their blood spill… scatter their useless brains… **_

This voice was broken and guttural, grating and repeating itself, flashing images of Carnage through Vincent's head.

"SHUT UP!!" Vincent roared, His voice tinged slightly with the rasp of his tormenter. The other two froze, turning to stare at him on the floor. For several moments Vincent said nothing.

"Well…" The old man muttered sheepishly, "I guess he really isn't dead."

"Who are you old man?" Vincent asked in his normal soft voice.

"I'm Not OLD!" The man cried indignantly, "I'm not even thirty yet!" In an attempt to prove this point he yanked several times painfully on his own beard, which refused to relinquish its hold on his face. The man whirled furiously on Sephiroth, "What in the depths of the life-stream did you Glue this ON with??"

"Super-glue." The ex-general informed him calmly, without missing a beat.

"WHAT would possess you to use THAT?" Sephiroth raised his gaze, and then an eyebrow pointedly,

"Last time, you got so drunk, you were using your beard and wig as…"

"HEY, hey!! Don't go into THAT … it was embarrassing!" The man interrupted quickly.

"So who are you?" Vincent asked again, feeling the grayish green and purple tinge rising once more. The "old" man paused, glancing at the prone ex-turk and then back to Sephiroth who shrugged.

"The name is Zack, Former SOLDIER, first-class!" He said with a grin, leaning down to wrap one hand around Vincent's bandaged one.

"Zack?" Vincent gasped; he glanced swiftly at Sephiroth, who blinked. He remembered Cloud's stories quite well, and if this really was the famed SOLDIER then Sephiroth's story was becoming more and more believable.

--------------------------

The search for Vincent was quickly becoming depressing, it was too dark to see any proper trails or prints of any kind, and due to the gasoline incident Nanaki couldn't find a scent to follow. The second time they met up at the bloody patch of ground Cid held up an all-too familiar gun he'd managed to scrounge off the rocky slopes.

"Looks like he ain't armed…" The spearman said sadly,

"How was he supposed to fight off wild animals NOW Cloud?" Yuffie growled, The blonde flinched,

"Now, now, Yuffie," Tifa gasped quickly, "I'm sure Vincent can still defend himself!"

"He is an Ex-Turk after all." Barret added. Cid glanced down at the stained ground,

"well… with all that blood … I don't think he's in much condition to be fist-fighting anything." The pilot mused, clutching a new cigarette between his teeth. Tifa slapped her own face in exasperation as Yuffie screamed,

"You SEE!! He's completely DEFENSELESS!" Finally the chocolate-haired woman had had enough. She smacked Yuffie smartly upside the head.

"You're NOT Helping!" Tifa snapped, "Now, we have to stay calm! We STILL have no proof he's dead! We won't be able to help Vincent if we're all arguing too much to look for him!" Her glare circled the small group, several members of which looked sheepish. "Now let's keep searching! We're NOT going to give up on him alright?" With agreeing nods all around the group set out again.

"Remember," Cloud called back. "One hour! Then we meet back here!" and the group disappeared into the darkened woods once more. Yuffie skittered off grumbling.


	7. Demonic Essence

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 7: Demonic Essence

Chapter Summary: Reno and Rude reunited, Vincent has his own secrets.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Reno raced through the trees, pausing only when he heard the familiar Voice of his partner.

"Reno?" Following the sound the red-head dashed up to his bald friend unwittingly waving his flashlight against the other man's sunglasses.

"Hey man! There's this totally psycho hermit geezer running around this place!" even past the sunglasses Reno could see Rude's raised eyebrow.

"You're bleeding…" The more stoic Turk observed.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! The old Fart kept trying to beat the living daylights outta me with his cetra-cursed Stick!" now Rude's other eyebrow raised,

"You weren't drinking were you?"

"No I wasn't!"

"So an old hermit beat you up?"

"I'm not gonna fight back with a crippled old man!" Reno snarled indignantly, "And that ancient fossil hit really hard for a feeble relic!" Rude stared for a few brief moments, then he sighed, withdrawing a small handkerchief from a pocket, with which he began to dab at the tiny trickle of blood on Reno's forehead. Still grumbling the shorter Turk brushed him off, "I'm fine yo…" He gazed back through the dark forest, "Let's just keep looking… together this time." He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. Rude shrugged, but pocketed his kerchief and followed along behind his more hot-headed friend.

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Rufus sat calmly in his wheelchair sipping at his mug of coffee, it was his fourth cup and the caffeine was finally starting to affect him. He sniggered in amusement as two of his ten TV monitors replayed Reno being assaulted by the strange old man. The two perspectives were drastically different from one another, one was a hidden camera attached to Reno's pocket, and the other was a small flying remote-camera that would follow the red-head until ordered otherwise. Rude's tie-pin camera had a few amusing views as well, but for the moment Rufus was most entertained by the remote one. Tseng watched on shaking his head quietly, standing at attention for when his president might request more drinks. Elena sat by a computer switching the camera views and recorded footage at request, the blonde Turk looked equally displeased with the childish behavior Rufus was exhibiting, but both Turks simply held their tongues. It looked to be the beginning of a very long night.

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Zack paced the small cabin room impatiently, Vincent, who watched him for lack of better entertainment, noted the small but clean environment, The entire house was made of wood with a small hallway that seemed to split into three rooms, at least one of which he assumed was a shower or bathroom, as his two hosts occasionally alluded to it. The other two he supposed were bedrooms, he had the very distinct impression that the two men would have murdered each other if forced to share a room for any extended period of time.

"Blasted beard!" Zack cursed again, He had managed to remove most of the fake graying hair, but his chin was red and raw from the effort. Moments later the hat and wig were removed, revealing the wild lengths of black hair the man had tied up on his head. Sephiroth, who was now sprawled across the length of the couch, was also watching the younger man.

"Never fails…" The former General muttered, Zack tossed him a look, "Even after a week of being tied back your hair is still a rat's nest!" Zack stuck out his tongue petulantly,

"Pshh! That's just the way my hair is! … At least I don't have to spend a fortune on SHAMPOO!" Sephiroth smirked,

"That's because you don't use any!" Zack whirled, still trying to undo his disguise.

"Hey! I take good care of my hair! I comb it and wash it and everything! I just don't go outta my way to smell fruity!"

"Hence why your hair is a rat's nest," Sephiroth continued calmly, "Conditioner is a must for any hair longer than an inch!"

"Pansy Girly stuff!" Zack snorted, "But then you have girly hair don'tcha Seph?"

Vincent was trying hard to ignore the mutterings in the back of his head, though tiring the conversation was half interesting, especially to someone unable to move.

"I use conditioner…" The gunman offered softly, for a moment the other two men went silent, apparently unaccustomed to having a third party in their argument sessions. Sephiroth grinned,

"See Zack? It's just you." Zack rolled his eyes,

"Well at least I'm not into other freaky girly stuffs." The Ex-SOLDIER muttered snagging a brush and running that through his hair as well. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, "Like that one time I found that Victoria's Secret Magazine under your…" The shorter swordsman didn't finish as Sephiroth was off the couch in a bound.

"For the LAST TIME!! I TOLD you! I confiscated that from a younger recruit!" The silver haired man snarled offering a slug to Zack's left shoulder, Zack blocked but continued to grin,

"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that but I KNOW…!" Dodging another punch by rolling Zack started to laugh,

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was YOU who had put it there!" Sephiroth growled, Vincent was becoming increasingly nervous, the two seemed to be engaging in a long-established ritual, and as their antics became more and more boisterous the gunman feared they might forget him entirely and somehow accidentally step on him or something.

**_Stupid… This is all so stupid…_**

This voice was the grating one, each sound off-key and harsh to his mental ear.

**_Exactly!..._** Snarled the gravely one, **_Kill them all! … Paint the room with their blood! … Let it drip from the ceiling and pool at our feet!... Their cries will be music to our ears!!..._**

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!! I'm NOT going to kill them!!" Vincent shouted,

**_Why not?..._** snickered the baritone, **_You've killed them before…_**

Vincent shook his head, but the sudden silence in the room drew his gaze to the other two men. Sephiroth was frozen mid-strangle-hold with Zack's head under one arm, Two pairs of eyes stared at Vincent in astonishment.

"You brought a Psycho home!" Zack suddenly spouted, "He's as crazy as you are!" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at Vincent but directed his comment to Zack.

"Are you sure that's a wise accusation to make when I have you in a headlock?" Zack muttered something but Vincent didn't catch it, the gunman was now staring at his own arm, His left one still burned and as he gazed at it he realized the gauntlet was crushed and dented, biting into his own skin. Underneath that and his leather glove was his tainted flesh.

"Hey man… you okay?" Zack padded over, somehow released from Sephiroth's vengeful grasp. The swordsman glanced over the armor Vincent stared at and whistled, "Hey Seph… why didn't you take this thing off?" Sephiroth also joined the viewing party,

"It was stuck… and he'd already lost so much blood." The silver-haired warrior shrugged, Zack's eyes swept over Vincent's prone form taking in what damage he could see. Vincent was now dressed in a borrowed pair of pajamas, his boots clothing and cloak excepting his gauntlet hand were all removed. The gunman had to assume this had been done while he was unconscious.

"Doesn't look all that bad, he's got at least some color to his face and stuff." Sephiroth joined the examination as well, after a moment he grunted.

"Looked worse before, he must be improving." Vincent said nothing, he knew it was his inhuman blood that helped him heal faster, the snickering in the back of his head started up again.

_**They will see you for what you are… what will you do then?**_

Vincent cringed, Zack stared at him for a moment,

"Hey man, let me take this thing off… it probably hurts." Without waiting, as was Zack's habit, he gave the crumpled metal gauntlet a tug, Vincent hissed, _it DID hurt!_ Zack persisted, fumbling with the blood encrusted straps until a few moments later he managed to wrench it off of Vincent's gloved arm. "Much better right?" The raven-haired swords man queried holding the golden armor in triumph, then gazing at the item for a few moments he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "This thing's completely ruined…" He muttered gazing over the dented gold pieces. Then with a shrug he tossed it out the open window. Vincent half-sat up with a protesting cry before the pain forced him to lay back down on the pallet. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and snorted in disgust at his comrade.

"The glove will have to come off too." The former general muttered reaching down to assist with said operation.

_**You are a Monster!... you are a hideous uncontrollable beast!... you will have to kill them as well… **_

"NO!!" Vincent shouted, Sephiroth stared, gazing in puzzlement at the gunman's face. but the glove was already in his hands. The baritone voice laughed harshly, Zack gasped, gawking at the revealed arm. Vincent closed his eyes and cringed. His left arm was blue-grey almost up to the elbow, the skin was leathery with a sprinkling of darker shiny black scales. A soft coating of fur dusted all the way to his black taloned fingers. Vincent hated it. Almost as much as he hated the man who'd left the scars there. Now they were almost unperceivable, lighter roughish stripes and spots under the fur and scales. A gentle pressure against his demonic arm raised Vincent's gaze once more.

"I guess you do know Hojo…" Sephiroth muttered coldly.


	8. Enemy Spotted

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 8: Enemy Spotted.

Chapter Summary: Yuffie Discovers evidence, more on vincent's voices.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Yuffie was still wandering through the woods moodily, she knew she was supposed to meet back up for the fourth time that night in about 10 minutes, but she was caring less and less. Growling to herself and letting her anger smoulder she kicked several stones skittering them across the densely littered forest floor. Just as the sounds of the gravel died down she could have sworn she heard the sound of something metal clanging against rocks. With a frown the young Shinobi wandered carefully over to the small hill the noise had emanated from. Sure enough, there in the earth and weeds gleemed a small spot of gold under the light of her Materia. With a gasp she snagged up the piece, which turned out to be Vincent's famous claw. Whirling around in place she bolted down the mountain.

--------------------------

Sephiroth's gaze was still locked with Vincent's his slitted green eyes boring intensely into Vincent's red. After watching the silent exchange for a few moments Zack couldn't help but grin.

"You guys wouldn't happen to need some uh… privacy would you?" Snapped out of the reverie Sephiroth rolled his eyes, tossing a hastily snatched couch cushion at his annoying friend.

"Actually yes… but I doubt I could ever expect such from you." Zack raised an eyebrow pointedly, but couldn't hold back a chuckle. Sephiroth's attention however had already reverted back to Vincent. It was another few moments before the Ex-general spoke, "You hear voices don't you?" His voice was quiet and more than a little concerned. Zack looked torn between laughter and alarm, finally he snorted, stuffing one fist in his mouth in a futile effort to stifle the noise.

"Yes…" Vincent admitted slowly, Zack snickered more.

"The voices tell you to kill people?" Sephiroth urged, Vincent thought about this for a moment,

"Some of them…" Then gunman answered, Zack couldn't help himself any longer, collapsing in laughter, He gasped between peals.

"How many… (laughter) … Voices… do you … (snigger)… have?" Sephiroth tossed an exasperated glare,

"You have absolutely no tact…" He scoffed in disgust.

"Four…" Vincent muttered, "But one of them doesn't actually speak." Zack raised an eyebrow, still giggling.

"So what does the fourth one do?"

"…"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "I must admit I am mildly curious as well…"

"… It eats people…" The ex-Turk muttered, closing his eyes in shame. Suddenly Zack was no longer amused, Coughing as he glanced around nervously.

"How many?" the black-haired swordsman inquired, suddenly raptly attentive.

"… That's never stopped it from trying…" Vincent answered softly, Zack shuffled in place,

"That's not an answer." But Vincent sighed, abruptly very tired. Suddenly Sephiroth's head snapped up,

"Did you hear something?" He half-whispered, cocking his head to the side to listen further.

"That is NOT funny!" Zack growled,

"I'm not joking." Sephiroth insisted, "I really DID hear something…" Zack tried to listen as well but kept shifting from foot to foot anxiously. Sephiroth sighed, "I'm gonna go check things out alright?" Without waiting for a reply the silver-haired man stood and quickly donning some boots walked out the door. It was silent for several more moments still before Zack mumbled,

"Cool hand by the way…" Vincent groaned inwardly.

--------------------------

The group of Ex-AVALANCHE comrades were waiting impatiently at the site their missing friend had once lain. Cid was tapping one foot in his agitation and Cloud sighing heavily when Yuffie finally raced up.

"See! SEE!!!" She shouted furiously, "He was mangled! I found his ARM!!" Waving Vincent's dented gauntlet in the air to emphasize her point.

"That 'ain't his arm, just the hollow claw-glove he wears!" Cid snorted,

"But it's COVERED in blood!" Yuffie snarled, Barret sighed,

"That things a weapon too ya know?"

"Where did you find that?" Tifa asked frowning,

"Over that way somewhere…" Yuffie snapped gesturing broadly in the direction she had come. "But that doesn't matter! Something ATE HIM!!" Cloud, by this point, had just about ceased to be affected by Yuffie's outraged shouts.

"So you just grabbed a piece of evidence, and ran off? Losing us our possible trail?" Cloud pointed out unsympathetically.

"This ISN'T about ME!" Yuffie cried throwing her hands up in exasperation. Unknown to the young Ninja, when she had run off so intently with her find, she had been followed by a certain curious silver-haired man, who now perched in a tree listening intently to their argumentative conversation.

"No need to be so dramatic lassy!" Cait Sith added.

"We've been searching this forest for hours and hours now!" Yuffie growled, ignoring the doll. "And all we've found is more blood! And more proof that CLOUD killed him!"

"YUFFIE!" Tifa snapped, her patience was really starting to wear thin. "Stop trying to blame everything on Cloud!"

"Tifa's right, that's not entirely fair." Nanaki added with a nod.

"Oh, so now you're all going to say it's MY fault?" Yuffie stamped her foot and whirled away glaring into the trees, it was at about this time she finally spotted the eavesdropper, who was still wearing white, he was just barely visable from the young Ninja's angle, and was gazing in rapt fascination at Nanaki and Cait Sith. Her anger completely forgotten the Shinobi simply stared for several moments, then pointed a hand in disbelief, "It's Sephiroth!" She gasped, "It's SEPHIROTH!!!" Said figure jolted turning to gawk back down at her. The rest of Avalanche regarded her with worried sceptisism. "HE MUST HAVE EATEN VINCENT!!!" Yuffie screamed. Sephiroth blinked once or twice in simple confusion at this claim before he leapt from the trees. By the time the rest of the group gathered around the young thief, her new culprit was gone.

"You okay Yuffie?" Tifa asked quickly,

"NO! NO!! I just saw Sephiroth!!" Yuffie gestured wildly into the empty forest. The rest of her companions exchanged a look.

"Now Yuff… I know this has been a long night and what not…" Cid began.

"I KNOW I saw him!" Yuffie snarled stubbornly, Barret sighed,

"I think perhaps it's time to take a breather." The rest of the group nodded quickly, and despite Yuffie's adamant protests they gently, but insistently convinced her to rest for a while.


	9. A Clever Disguise

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 9: A Clever Disguise.

Chapter Summary: Turks are closing in, How will Sephiroth escape?

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Reno rubbed his hands together furiously, _It's really getting cold out here!_ He shot an envious glare at Rude's leather gloves, muttering something incoherent under his breath as he continued to trudge forward. Rude now held both of the flashlights, as Reno had insisted his own was freezing his fingers off. Scuffing his way through the forest glaring all around from beneath hunched shoulders, Reno was the one to spot the small white figure that had paused, crouched in a tree some 15 yards away. For a moment Reno stared, and the white figure stared back. Green eyes glowed in the dark and silver hair gleamed in the moonlight. The red-head made a choking noise. But in the moment it took him to snatch back his flashlight from Rude and whirl back to the trees the figure was gone.

"What?" Rude asked with a raised eyebrow, "That hermit didn't come back did he?"

"No…" Reno half-whispered, "I… I think… I think I saw a ghost yo." The bald man's gaze traveled past Reno's and still seeing nothing he shrugged.

"A ghost?" the red-headed Turk glanced sheepishly at his partner,

"For a minute there… I could have sworn I saw a remnant… almost looked like Sephiroth himself…" Rude's other eyebrow shot up.

"If it was a remnant…" Reno shook his head,

"It was white… kinda glowey, the remnants always wore black y'know?" Rude nodded. Reno just shook his head, "I'm startin' to think this place is haunted yo." The bald turk chuckled. Reno shot him a glare but started forward again anyways, "But haunted or not I'm gonna follow that spook and see where he…. It went." Rude said nothing, but his mouth was quirked into an amused smile, following along behind the red-head as they wandered even deeper into the dense woods.

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Tseng gazed on in some concern as the president gulped intently at his thirty-fourth cup of coffee, They had resorted to the Styrofoam cups as all of the mugs were now dirty. The raven-haired Turk would have wondered if the stimulant drinks weren't laced with some sort of alcohol, had he not been responsible for preparing them himself. Rufus continued to giggle at the images of Reno and Rude wandering the forests, the red-head's irritation and unhappy commentary seemed to be amusing the president to no end. It briefly occurred to Tseng that perhaps Reno had somehow angered or otherwise upset their young leader, and that this was the blonde man's revenge or punishment. Elena struggled to stifle yet another yawn as the president once again asked to replay Reno's assault.

"Another cup Tseng." Rufus commanded idly, his gaze never leaving the screens. "Make it hazelnut this time." Tseng hesitated for several moments, his loyalty was unwavering, but his allegiance was to not only the president's orders, but the young man's health as well.

"I think you've had enough Sir." The wutaian said softly, Rufus froze turning slowly to gaze at his oldest Turk carefully.

"Care to repeat that?"

"I believe you have had more than enough Coffee Sir." Tseng reiterated smoothly. Rufus was silent for several more moments. Elena was staring at Tseng in some shock, apparently unprepared for the other Turk's refusal.

"Alright then…" Rufus's blue eyes stared hard at Tseng, "If that is the case, I don't believe I will be requiring your assistance here." Elena blinked in confusion, Rufus smiled, "I would like for both you and Elena to locate Reno and Rude and accompany them on their mission." The blonde man stated with a half-smirk. Tseng nodded, unruffled by this new assignment, he had to sigh inwardly though as he knew Rufus would find some other means of supplying himself caffeine in the meantime.

"Of course Sir." Tseng said with a bow, eyes flicking over to Elena who snapped out of her own reverie enough to emulate his motion. Both Turks left the room without any flourish, and for several moments Rufus sat in silence, unbeknownst to him he was missing a scene on his monitors that might have provided him with a much different sort of fascination. But since he was still staring after the two Turks he had dismissed, he never noticed the white "Ghost" Reno was deciding to chase. Rufus simply chuckled as he dialed up one of the few night nurses that serviced other portions of the lodge. His request for a very large pot of fresh coffee and a stack of disposable cups was met with some confusion but no resistance. The president of Shinra simply grinned; getting his way was all too easy.

--------------------------

"And then there was the time I found Sephiroth snoring at his desk!" Zack explained laughing at his own memories. Vincent felt another sigh escape his lips. Far from being discouraged by the gunman's habitual silence the Ex-SOLDIER seemed to take the lack of response as an invitation for more of his outrageous stories. Perhaps he just missed having someone who hadn't already heard everything. Either way nothing Vincent seemed to do, or not to do, had managed to stop the never-ending stream of chatter from his raven-haired host.

**_Do you really desire silence so badly?..._** it was the baritone again, **_Those twenty-five years just weren't enough for you?..._** the voice snickered.

For a brief moment Zack went silent, leaning forward as he gazed into Vincent's blank face, "Hey…" The man asked with a grin, "What are the voices talking about now?" Vincent exhaled sharply, reflecting that despite his lack of consideration, Zack was more observant than Vincent would have preferred, already the young man had begun to spot the tell-tale signs of the gunman's inner dialogues.

"…" said Vincent.

_**Kill him!... He needs to Die!... Decorate the walls with his entrails!... Drink his blood down!... **_

"C'mon man! You said you have four voices! Seph had a voice for a while and stuff… I'm the only one left out here!" Vincent simply stared, he couldn't believe that Zack was trying to insinuate he actually WANTED delusional noise.

"…"

Zack heaved a sigh, "Don't be like that… I've told you all sorts of stuff about me." Vincent thought quickly, listening to Zack was definitely preferable to tolerating his own demons,

"How did you and Sephiroth escape from Hojo?" Zack blinked for a few moments then grinned,

"I knew I could get you to talk!" He winked broadly, "Alright… I'm guessing ol' Seph already explained his whole 'Clone Theory' and the Nibelheim bit right?" Vincent nodded, "Okay, so we were all being held by Hojo, and he kept on doing tests on us."

"All?" Vincent queried softly, Zack paused.

"Eh?... OH! Yeah Seph always forgets, there was this poor little recruit kid with us, …" He hesitated again, his face screwing up as he tried to remember more clearly, "What was his name… Sky? Fluff?... something like that… OH! Yeah it was 'Cloud'. Poor kid… must've had mean parents. Anyways, So it was Me, Sephy and that Cloud kid."

"Sephy?" Vincent interrupted, caught off-guard by the nickname, it reminded him rather unpleasantly of the sort of affectionate titles Yuffie liked to bestow on people.

"Yeah he hates it when I call him that!" Zack admitted with a broad grin, Vincent stifled a groan. He could sympathize with Sephiroth's sentiments. "Anyways, back to my story." Zack began again, unperturbed by Vincent's blank face, "So we were all stuck down there in that lab, … it was pretty horrible! That old kook did some pretty freaky stuff, probably did the worst to poor fluff..."

"Cloud." Vincent corrected absently. Zack grinned,

"Knew you were listening," He winked, "So poor Cloud probably got the worst of it, and I was certain we were all gonna die or something in that hell hole. But then one day Sephiroth got free, I still don't know how… he doesn't like to talk about it, but he freed me and Sky while he was at it."

"Cloud." Vincent repeated again.

"That's what I said." Zack insisted, his grin broadening even further, Vincent decided right there that the proposition of throttling the young man was rather enticing. His more Masochistic demon was thrilled. "So we were all trying to run for it, well that fruity scientist didn't like that much, as you might guess, so he sent people after us." Zack snorted in amusement, "Even without his sword Sephy made short work of those fools. But they kept on coming and all that so he had me and Squall run ahead."

"…" Vincent sighed, Zack paused raising an eyebrow, "It's Cloud." The gunman urged.

"I know that." The Ex-SOLDIER insisted, sticking his tongue out childishly. "So me and Cloud ran ahead, but ol' Sephy didn't know they had some guys trying to cut us off too… I got a little cocky and ended up getting shot. Poor Mist… he was all messed up from Pug-face's experiments."

"Pug-face?" Vincent asked, trying to ignoring the butchering of his companion's name.

"Hojo, That looney scientist guy." Vincent tried to smother a smirk. "Anyways so puff was all messed up in the head, and when I got shot I told him to run… seems he understood me somehow, and he took my sword and left. I thought I was gonna die out there, but Sephy caught up and managed to help me out before I kicked the bucket." His smile became wry, "I always kinda wished that I hadn't told Fog to leave."

"Cloud…" Vincent reminded exasperatedly.

"Yeah Cloud. I wish he hadn't left… 'cause then Sephy and I coulda helped him too." He heaved a sigh. Unbeknownst to Zack, as he had been adding the last details of his story, the door had eased open and the white-clothed form of Sephiroth had stepped in, just soon enough to catch the tail-end of his account. "Poor, poor Scud…"

"You're butchering that recruit's name again, I'm pretty sure it was 'Cloud'," Sephiroth interrupted as he pulled off his boots. Zack immediately brightened,

"SEPHY! You're back!" The Ex-general grimaced at the nickname.

"Yes, I have returned." He intoned sarcastically, then his gaze traveled to Vincent and he paused, "You're name wouldn't happen to be "Vincent" would it?" Vincent blinked,

"Yes… How do you know that?" Sephiroth shrugged,

"I ran into this weird bunch of people who were running around out there and looking for you. One of them seemed to think I had eaten you." Sephiroth sounded quite perplexed, and Vincent cocked one eyebrow,

"Eaten me?... Did you try to greet them?"

"I'm not that foolish, the less people who see and recognize me the better… I'm kind of a fugitive from Shinra if you recall,…" The silver-haired man paused for a moment as he considered something else, "I saw those Turks too," He muttered, Zack's head snapped up,

"Turks? I only saw one… a little red-headed fellow."

"I saw two, the red-head and a bald man." Sephiroth modified,

"Reno and Rude." Vincent supplied, The other two turned to stare at him, Sephiroth's eyes narrowed,

"How do you know that?"

"I'm Ex-Turk," Vincent muttered softly. Sephiroth watched him for a few moments, his gaze shifted to Vincent's demonic arm and back to his face. Shaking his head Sephiroth sighed.

"I don't think we can stay here if they're searching…" His gaze fell again on the gunman, "We also can't travel very far with him in tow…" Zack paused deep in thought,

"Didn't you say he had some friends running around?"

"Yes but it's not like we can run up and just say Hi." Sephiroth smirked,

"Why not?" Zack asked a little puzzled.

"Apparently they know me… or one of my Clones, one of them shouted my name." Both of them fell silent, considering this in some depth,

"I know!" Zack leapt to his feet, "We can go out in disguise! Just like when I go get supplies!!" This said he raced to the couch and snatched up his discarded beard, wig, and hat, waving them like ragged banners.

"How, pray tell, are we going to disguise him?" Sephiroth inquired, pointing to Vincent. The Ex-Turk was silent, he was actually in much better condition than he was letting on, His demonic blood was doing its job, but he was still very tired. The four demons were now consistent murmurs in the back of his head, and he could only guess that he was fully ready to shift. A "limit break" Cloud had once called it, a certain amount of built up stress that triggered adrenaline and exceptional power. For Vincent it meant he could assume one of the forms of his tormentors. Apparently his monsters knew this as well, each was eager and more awake then usual … only Vincent's physical weakness, and reluctance to change held them back, and they chaffed at his control. Zack was staring at him, rubbing his chin in thought, Vincent wasn't sure he was going to like the raven-haired swordsman's suggestion.

"I've got it!" Zack snapped, "I'll be an old man,… we always did a hump with the supplies right?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "So he can be YOUR hump!" Vincent and Sephiroth exchanged a glance, both looking slightly confused,

"Excuse me… but wouldn't it look suspicious if TWO hump-backed old men were running around?" Zack's grin widened, and both Vincent and Sephiroth had to stifle the urge to cringe.

"That's just it! You won't be an old MAN… you'll be an old WOMAN!" Zack snickered, "You've got enough hair!" The other two stared at him in shock, neither able to speak for several moments, then Sephiroth groaned. Vincent had a sinking feeling as he realized the plan might actually work… _I get to be a hump_… He mused sourly. For once the Demons fell silent.


	10. Reunited?

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 10: Reunited?

Chapter Summary: Everyone is finally gathered together, But is it a blessing or a curse?

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Cloud's group still sat morosely on rocks and logs at their now habitual 'meeting place'. None of them had any desire to gaze to closely at the blood-soaked patch of dirt, nor the charred rocks and cliff-side. Nanaki had drifted into a doze, the Cait Sith doll silent at his side. Cid was staring blankly at the sky, his cigarette held loosely between his teeth. Barret was continuously fiddling with his gun arm. And Tifa sat next to Cloud, absently rubbing one of his shoulders, while the swordsman pondered his glowing fire materia blankly. Only Yuffie refused to relax, she paced the ground unhappily, muttering to herself, despite the fact that dark circles were beginning to form under her eyes. It was actually getting lighter now; they were starting to come into the very early morning hours. And still they hadn't found Vincent.

"I'm running out of ideas." Cloud admitted despairingly. For a while the others were silent.

"… Maybe we should just try again." Tifa suggested softly, "It's getting lighter… maybe we'll find something we missed?" Barret refused to look up, and continued tinkering with his mechanical arm. Suddenly Nanaki's head snapped up, blinking a few times in confusion as his ears swiveled around. Abruptly he was on his feet, whirling to face the darkness between the trees growling low in his throat.

"Who's there?" Cloud called out, standing quickly and drawing one of the pieces of his 'First Tsurugi' sword.

"Hello Cloud." Came the calm voice as Tseng stepped into the ring of light. Cloud stared, as did several of the others.

"What in the Blazes are Turks doing here?" Barret snapped irritably looking up for the first time. Elena followed Tseng into the clearing just in time to hear this, she smirked.

"I'll have you know that we were sent to look for your rabid furry frei… nd….." She hesitated suddenly as she spotted Nanaki, who stood watching them, but looked entirely sane. "Er… well I guess we're here looking for possible Signs of JENOVA." She corrected hastily.

"Rufus was bored." Tseng informed them. Then he shrugged, "We're entertainment." Cloud winced,

"Ouch… and you still let this guy order you around?" Elena scowled,

"We are Turks! We're loyal to Shinra no matter what!"

"You haven't seen Reno or Rude have you?" Tseng calmly ignored his blonde partner, Cloud shook his head,

"No… I haven't." Cid stood up and stretched,

"You Turks wouldn't have seen anything unusual would you?" Tseng responded negative. Barret spat a curse.

"What are you people looking for anyways?" Elena asked skeptically,

"Cloud KILLED Vincent!" Yuffie snapped, Several of the others groaned. Tseng's eyes widened, showing surprise for the first time.

"Cloud didn't Kill Vincent!" Tifa glared at the Ninja, then her gaze traveled back to Tseng, "But he is injured somewhere, and we can't find him." The Wutaian turk considered this carefully.

"Vincent was always strong…" He informed them calmly, "I think he can take care of himself… even injured, he is more capable than you think." He gazed around the small disheartened group for a few moments, before his mind made itself up. "Elena and I will accompany you for a while, perhaps Reno and Rude have found something, when we meet up with them we can expand our search." Elena gasped in shock, and even Cloud and Tifa looked surprised.

"But… the president's orders…" The blonde Turk began,

"Were to meet up with Reno and Rude," Tseng finished smoothly, "whose orders were to investigate a 'red monster'."

"Red Monster?" Cid queried,

"At this point… I think it was Vincent." Tseng decided with a slight smile. Barret had to chuckle at that,

"I always knew the man was creepy, …" Cloud still deliberated for a few moments before he sheathed his blade.

"Alright, we'll follow you, I can't really think of much else we haven't tried." The rest of the group, except for Yuffie, nodded. The young ninja simply scowled.

"Let's go then." Tseng prompted mildly, and he and Elena walked back into the woods, after a brief moment of hesitation the group of Ex-AVALANCHE warriors followed.

--------------------------

Having only glimpsed the 'Ghost' briefly, Reno didn't actually have a very good idea of where his supposed Specter had gone. Scrubbing at his red hair in frustration the Turk groaned. "What time is it yo?"

"Four thirty-seven." Rude muttered, Reno cursed,

"It's four in the Morning?!" The Red-head snarled planting a few choice kicks on nearby stones.

"Four thirty-seven." Rude corrected.

"We've been here all night!" Reno groaned. It was perhaps due to his own self-pity that he never spotted the rumpled and hunched figure peaking at him from the trees until he practically walked into him. Not wasting any time the 'Old Geezer' wapped him sharply with his favored stick. Reno gave a yelp and shot backwards about a foot, partially from the pain, but more from shock.

"Watch wheere yur goin' ya 'lil guttersnipe!" Came the dreaded whiney voice.

"It's the old fart!" Reno snapped, Rude raised an eyebrow,

"Eh?..." The beady eyes swiveled on the red-head. "Whad ya jus' call me?" Bushy brows lowered warningly. Another figure entered the range of the flashlights, A lumpy ragged form, distorted and hunched lower than the 'old man', Hood drawn low obscuring the face and a few limp strands of grey hair peaking from beneath the fabric. One hand, also masked by a loose and overly long sleeve grasped a second walking stick. The other sleeve was empty.

"Ye Gads! What is THAT?" Reno cringed backwards, In that brief moment of distraction the old man made his move. "YEOW!" Reno sniped, wrapping his arms around his head. A second painful goose egg was now forming on his unfortunate skull.

"Whad ya just say about my wawfe ya punk?" Reno gave another yelp as the old man started forward waving his stick threateningly.

"Where are you headed Sir?" Rude inquired calmly,

"Eh? What's that?... Headed?" The old man paused as if thinking, "Well… lemme see, I live 'round these 'eere parts ya know?"

"Where do you live Sir?" Rude continued complacently,

"Eh? Oh… just round the bend a leetle ways tha' a ways" The old man shuffled a little, The old woman coughed.

"You alright ma'am?" Reno stepped forward slightly, still eyeing the Old Geezer's walking stick,

"Wha.. .uh… What?" the woman croaked, her voice rising in timber with every syllable, Reno recoiled again.

"You don't look so good, maybe you shouldn't be wandering around so late…" The red-headed Turk decided with some concern,

"Eh?" The old man interrupted, glancing at the distorted form of his 'wife'. "Shee jus' got some Skoliouseess," He declared firmly. "Shee wan'ers these 'eere woods all a' time." He slapped his hand on the woman's shoulder for emphasis. Reno paused shaking his head, as he could have almost sworn he'd heard a grunt from the shapeless mass of the 'hump'.

"Scoliosis?" Rude confirmed, Glancing her over, indeed it did look like a rather advanced case, the poor creature was hunched over almost double, her one hand feebly grasping a knobby stick, The old woman shifted in place again, muttering something unintelligible.

"Listen yo… why don't we just help you back home okay?" Reno asked feeling distinctly sorry for the disfigured female.

"ar you tryin' ta say I cain't take caire a mine own wawfe?" An indignant glare was leveled on Reno, who shrank backwards.

"No Old man, I'm not saying- OW!!" hoping on one foot he cursed fluently, which earned him another rap, This time on his other Shin. Reno collapsed to the ground in a foul-mouthed heap.

"Watch yur lainguege aroun' theese 'eere feem-nine eers." The old man growled. Rude finally decided to step in, interposing himself between the old-timer and his victim.

"My apologies Sir, but could we simply escort you both to your home?" The old man paused as if considering this, the old woman hissed a few words, and finally the Oldster nodded,

"Aw-right… I guess ya cain eescort me." Rude nodded, smiling and Reno stood slowly wincing and muttering, keeping Rude and a good distance between himself and the old man. They walked along, the 'Old Woman' hobbling her way with her stick flailing out almost randomly before her, snagging on roots and rocks and sometimes even her own feet. Reno frowned,

"Are you sure you're all right Ma'am?" The old man shot the Turk a look again and then glanced back at his 'wife'.

"Uh… er…" The woman stammered in her cracking voice.

"Eh?" The old Man interrupted, "Oh, I wudn't worree too much 'bout thait, she's got the pawlsee she dohse." The old woman hesitated for a moment before nodding in slow agreement. Reno stepped forward,

"Do you need some help then?" The Turk asked reaching out to offer support. "OW!!!" Reno yelped retracting his hand and rubbing at his quickly reddening wrist.

"Whadya thaink yur doin' ta my wawfe?" The Old man growled,

"I'm Trying to help her you old fogey!" Reno snapped, barely dodging the stick as it was swung a second time.

"She don' need help frum the likes a you!" The geezer threatened vocally.

"Excuse me, am I interrupting something?" A calm voice intruded gently, Stepping into the range of light Tseng raised an eyebrow at the situation before him.

"Tseng?" Reno gasped, Rude stood at attention with a brief salute,

"Sir."

"What brings you to the forests?" Reno asked incredulously, "I thought you were still with the President!" Elena stepped up,

"Tseng refused to fetch more coffee, so Rufus sent both of us to join you." Silence reigned for several moments.

"Where's Vincent!" Came an indignant, youthful shout. And Yuffie dropped from the trees to glare at the small group.

"Eh?" The Old man cut in, "What's awl that yellin' fir?"

"Have you seen an injured man?" Another feminine voice cut in, Tifa stepped into the clearing. The old man scratched at his head. "Cain't say I'ave seen anay thin' like tha' aroun' 'eere."

"Are you sure?" Came an almost desperate voice as Cloud stepped forward. Suddenly the Old man went silent. He stared at the Self-Proclaimed SOLDIER in stunned amazement, after a moment his wide-eyed gaze traveled to Tifa, recognition slowly dawning in his shadowed eyes.


	11. Perverts and Pretenses

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 11: Perverts and Pretenses.

Chapter Summary: Can Zack keep up his charade? Or will he and Sephiroth be found out?

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

((Author's note: I usually keep to a single Point of View (POV) during each shift, but during this particular section I will be switching between Zack's, Sephiroth's and Vincent's POV, so please just bear with me.))

_That's the guide girl…_ Zack realized slowly, And_… Cloud is ALIVE!! _His elation was short-lived however, his gawking gaze hadn't gone unnoticed, and Tifa shuffled uncomfortably before leaning towards Cloud.

"That Old Man is staring at my chest…" Cloud flushed darkly, his eyes narrowing into a dangerous glare.

"Eh?" Zack said thinking quickly, "… I didn' thaink they caim that big…" The 'Old Woman' staggered, half-tripping on her own cane,

"What are you doing?" 'She' hissed indignantly. Vincent groaned softly. The positioning wasn't exactly comfortable, Sephiroth was bent low, so as to appear shorter than he was, and with Vincent on his back he held both of the gunman's legs under his arms to better support the injured Ex-Turk. This left Vincent's left, demonic arm wrapped around Sephiroth's shoulders, while his right arm protruded from the one 'sleeve', acting as the old woman's 'cane hand'. They were pretending a lack of a left arm, because it simply wouldn't work to have the furred and clawed demonic hand showing in any way. Chaos would not stop laughing in Vincent's head, His baritone voice echoing painfully.

"You PERVERT!" Cloud snarled drawing one of the pieces of 'First Tsurugi'. Tifa reached out a hand to placate him but didn't quite move fast enough, Surprisingly though the Old Man simply wasn't there when Cloud's sword came down. A sharp rap on the young blonde's head brought some of his senses back,

"Ya arrowgaint young whippersnapper!" The geezer scolded, "Ya ain't got no reespectin' fir yur elders ya brat!" He punctuated this with another swing of his 'walking stick'. Which Cloud quickly dodged, rubbing his head and staring at the man in understandable surprise.

"It's Okay Cloud!" Tifa insisted quickly, "I get used to that kind of thing." The blonde still glowered darkly.

"Heya pops, you're pretty fast aren'tcha?" Yuffie stared in amazement, The Old woman coughed again.

"Who are you callin' pops?" Cid growled,

"Not YOU you old Fart!" Yuffie snapped back.

"I think we all need to calm down." The old man's head swiveled quickly as this voice came from about knee level, Nanaki stepped calmly forward to stand next to Tifa. Reno whirled again as he heard a muttered curse from the 'Hump'. He stared for several moments,

"That hump just SPOKE!" Rude raised an eyebrow, the old woman startled.

"What was thait?" The Old man reproofed, "What're you tryin' ta say about my wawfe?"

"Watch out for the blood-lion!" Sephiroth hissed, Nanaki blinked, ears twitching. He couldn't quite make out what the 'old woman' had said, but her voice sounded strange…

Vincent for the moment, was not having a very good time. His left arm continued to burn uncomfortably, and the effort of trying not to move while stifling under all of the concealing folds was giving him a headache. This ailment was not in the least assisted by his inner demons.

**_Your hand is right there!... Kill him!... Throttle Him!... Dig your claws into his Flesh_**!...

Vincent smothered another groan.

"More voices?" Sephiroth whispered under his breath. He felt Vincent nod. "Which one?" Simple curiousity got the better of him, he had already found out that Vincent had one voice named 'Chaos'. This one seemed to be the most constant.

"Hellmasker." Came the barely audible reply.

"There! There!" Reno cried, "Didn't you hear it that time?? I could have sworn I heard something!" Another sharp 'thwacking' noise told Sephiroth that Zack had already moved to intercept the young Turk.

"I don' appreceeate lil' guttersnipes eensultin' my wawfe that way!" Now it was Sephiroth's turn to stifle a groan. Zack was getting way too into this… It was at about this time that the Ex-General noticed the strange whirring noise flitting about the group. It was high-pitched and mostly quiet, had he not possessed unusually sensitive hearing he never would have noticed it at all. Pausing he cocked his head to one side, peering from beneath the enveloping folds of his costume. Sure enough there was a small hovering camera. _Now what is that doing here?_ The silver-haired man pondered carefully. Whatever it was, and whatever it was for, he couldn't afford to let it stay. Shuffling a little he started moving away from the group. Vincent tried carefully to move the knobby stick in some semblance of an even gait. They didn't get very far.

"Ma'am?" Came Reno's jerky reply, "Where are you going?" The silence was oppressive, and Sephiroth had to think quickly,

"Uh…um… I have uh… to take … care of something." Trying hard to pitch his voice high and perhaps feminine, He could feel Vincent wince.

"Let me help you then…" Reno began but he was forstalled with another strike from Zack followed quickly by a yelp. No doubt the young man would be a map of bruises later.

"What kin' a a peervert are ya? Shee's Gotta go faynd a Bush!" Zack inserted quickly, A feminine sigh interrupted them.

"Then I'll go with her." Elena decided smoothly. Sephiroth gulped, Zack eyed her suspiciously,

"You wouln' happen ta be one of them lesbinians would ya?" Elena simply stared. Sephiroth choked. Before the others could decide to assign some equally debilitating and embarrassing 'escort' to him, he scuttled off into the darkened forests.

Vincent could hear Sephiroth muttering softly under his breath.

"I'm gonna kill him. When this is over I'll kill him!" It rather disturbingly echoed the sentiments of Hellmasker, the raspy guttural voice obsessed with death and carnage.

**_They have made a fool of you!... Even I would be repulsed by you now..._** Chaos insisted,

Vincent groaned, "I wouldn't stop you," He murmered softly to Sephiroth's furious claims. The silver-haired man snorted in amusement.

_**Kill them all… crush their flesh in your claws… eat through their skulls… **_

_Would nothing make them stop?_ Vincent wondered desperately, as if in answer to his plea a new voice cut short the babble.

**_Be quite children…_** It spoke in wry sarcasm. **_He needs his rest…_**

Vincent froze, this voice was soft and calm, _almost effeminate…_ he realized, but more importantly… _He'd Never heard it before!_ Neither apparently had Chaos.

**_Who are you?..._** The baritone demanded, **_Where did YOU come from?..._**

The calm one simply snorted, **_Why should you know…_**

"Um…" Vincent interposed, speaking aloud from sheer shock, "I would… actually like to know that too."

**_All in due time…_** The serene voice chuckled.

Sephiroth hesitated, "Know what?"

"New voice…" Vincent admitted absently, Sephiroth was silent for several moments.

"You get new ones often?"

"Not really… … well…not after the first four." Sephiroth simply shook his head, this was all entirely too fascinating, but at the moment he had something to take care of. His gaze focused on the trees around him, his JENOVA enhanced vision was one of the few things he actually thanked hojo for on occasion… a RARE occasion. Sure enough in a matter of moments he spotted the small buzzing mechanism hovering over the group still in the clearing. Carefully Sephiroth stooped, releasing one of Vincent's legs in order to grab a fist-sized rock. Rolling it in his hands for a few moments he eyed the camera, his now-free hand slipped out from the cloak and with one quick snap of his wrist he sent the stone flying. A dull crack, a few sparks and the device dropped uselessly to the ground. Sephiroth grinned, but his pleasure quickly faded when the buzzing sound did not entirely stop. Glancing about furiously he just spotted the second camera as it was flittering over to zoom in on HIM. With a muttered oath he snatched up a second rock, hurling it at the floating device, the crack was much louder this time as his stone connected with the lens. Whirling to gaze at the group in the clearing, he could still see them through the trees, but since he wasn't carrying any light himself he was by far harder to notice. None of them glanced his way however and he sighed with relief. Vincent was still quiet, unable to see much at all from under the cloaks, Sephiroth was rather surprised the Ex-Turk hadn't been asking any questions about what was going on. Bending down to grab a few extra stones just in case, he wrapped his arm around Vincent's leg once more and with stones in hand shuffled back into the clearing.

"We'ave been livin' in these 'eere woods for more'n seventee yeers now!" Zack was explaining vehemently.

"Wait… I thought you said you were sixty- Ow!"

"Don' Ine'rupt me young'un!" Sephiroth failed to repress a groan. The 'Old man' turned, eyes alighting on his 'wife'. "Ya see? She's a fast lil' thang… shee's back awl'ready!" He thumped his staff against the dirt proudly, then grinned and winked at Reno, "She's reel friskey! You shuld see her in tha SACK!" Reno shuddered turning a little green, and Sephiroth growled under his breath, fingering the rocks still grasped in his right hand.

"Go ahead…" Vincent muttered, Sephiroth grinned, shifting to better hide his 'hands', he slipped one free and launched the small stone vengefully at his roommate. It scored him painfully on the side of his head, and had he been anything but a SOLDIER it probably would have knocked him out cold. As it was he toppled to his knees. Sephiroth chuckled, Vincent joining him softly, Reno stared once more,

"Alright, this time I SWEAR I heard..." But by then Zack had recovered, standing quickly he whirled on Reno, launching a barrage at the unfortunate Turk.

"Whadya thaink yur doin'!!? Ya cain't go aroun' hittin' old men ya stupid punk!" The 'old man' roared. Yuffie was staring past the 'old woman',

"Hey I think I saw something come from over… wah!" Her musings were interrupted as Reno and Zack shoved past her, the former shouting obscenities and the 'old man' waving his stick like a club. The only other person to notice the rock, shook his head sadly, his one scarred eye closed forever as he decided no one would believe him anyway if he said he'd seen what looked like a second set of arms on the old woman. Scuffing the ground with one paw he sighed, things were getting too crazy around here.

"Hey pops! Hit him harder!" Yuffie cheered, the old man whirled,

"Whad'ya call me?" With a yelp the young ninja dodged the swipe aimed at her, snickering for half a moment about her own speed before she tripped over a root and spilled backwards onto the ground.

"I think it's time to calm down." Tseng inserted, the old man spun again, but this time as his staff came down it was snagged neatly by the experienced Turk's hand. Tseng simply raised an eyebrow, releasing the 'walking stick' as the old man chuckled sheepishly. Scuttling back over to his 'wife' he waved his cane scoldingly,

"peerhaps you all will ramembah ta be reespectin' a yur elders now eh?" Sephiroth simply shook his head, Vincent was also growing very weary of Zack's antics, and shifting slightly to peer past the edge of the cloak he aimed carefully, and drove his elbow into the Ex-SOLDIER's side, With a startled yelp the 'old man' jumped backwards, glowering and pouting, rubbing his offended ribs. Sephiroth snickered,

"Nice Aim…" He mumbled under his breath,

"Thanks." Vincent whispered back. Reno choked, his eyes darting first to the old man who watched him with a narrow gaze. Holding his tongue for the moment the red-headed Turk grumbled quietly. Once Zack was calmed down, partially by Tseng's raised eyebrow, but mostly by the slanted glare of his 'wife', the group began moving once again.

"Where are we going?" Yuffie questioned,

"We agreed to escort this couple back to their home." Rude explained calmly, for a moment there was silence, then Cloud sighed.

"We aren't really any closer to finding Vincent then are we?" His gaze landed on Tseng who shrugged.

"We can engage in a more extensive search momentarily. If he is anywhere in this area, we will find him." The Wutaian Turk assured. Sephiroth cringed.

"We live jus' ovah theere…" Zack gestured 'shakily', pointing out the small but well-built cabin half-way up the hill. It was neatly obscured by the surrounding trees and foliage, if you didn't know where to look it was nearly impossible to spot in the darkness.

"Nice place…" Barret muttered, gazing over the cabin, "Pretty sturdy," the 'old man' beamed proudly,

"We mayd it ourselves!" He declared, wrapping an arm around his 'wife' for emphasis. Sephiroth hissed something under his breath. The two of them began trudging towards the door, "Well, I guess I 'all see ya awl latah!" The old man waved happily, "My wawfe's gettin' eempashient if ya know what's I mean." He winked broadly and Sephiroth had to stifle the urge to throttle the man right there. Reno gagged, and ducked behind Rude as the 'couple' waved goodbye and disappeared into the house. Once the door closed silence descended.

--------------------------

Rufus was having far too much fun, his sides ached from laughter and he'd accidentally stained his nice white suit with Espresso, but he was far from caring anymore, during the lulls in entertainment from his monitor screens, he had become strangely fascinated with the concept of lining up his empty Styrofoam cups and wheeling his chair around his impromptu obstacle course. It was most likely due to his odd new hobby that he didn't immediately notice when Reno came across the 'Old Man' again. Eventually however he did chance to look up and fully elated rewound the scene to start from the beginning. So extreme was the amusement he found in Reno's beatings, that he nearly fell out of his chair with mirth. Gasping and rewinding to key points and certain phrases. His laughter died quickly however, when he finally reached the scene where the first of his precious hover-cameras abruptly died. Suddenly sobered, he watched even more carefully as his second camera, followed it's programming to investigate. At first he was puzzled to see the Old Woman, but that quickly changed to shock as he watched a 'second' right arm slip from her voluminous folds moments before his backup footage also blacked out. Rufus's eyes narrowed in deep thought as he rewound the tape again, pausing and zooming in on the mostly hidden face. Because of the darkness he spotted something he might never have noticed otherwise, _Her eyes were glowing…_ Zooming in still more he gasped, his blood running cold as he suddenly recognized the strong face and distinctive chin previously hidden by the cloth. For a moment the President of Shinra simply sat there, the remote sliding from his limp hands to clatter noisily on the slick tile floors. The sound snapped him out of his reverie and he scoured his pockets, grasping ahold of the slender Cell phone he auto-dialed One man in particular.

"Tseng… Detain the old Couple IMEDIATELY!" He almost shouted into the receiver, there was a pause before the older Turk's voice responded.

"Sir? The couple were escorted to their home, almost half an hour ago… we are currently assisting Cloud and his Comrades with their search."

"Forget that…" Rufus struggled not to snap, he had to maintain a calm composure as the President.

"… Of course Sir,…" Tseng affirmed almost hesitantly, "Is there a particular reason we are arresting those people?"

"The woman was not what she appeared..." More silence,

"… Of…course Sir…" Tseng sounded more than a little confused, "They will be detained…"

"Be cautious, 'She' was Sephiroth in disguise…" Rufus snapped the phone shut, cutting off any possible response from his subordinate. He knew it was Sephiroth, he could never forget that face, But his own certainty did not make his claim sound any more believable.


	12. Lost and Found

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 12: Lost and Found

Chapter Summary: The group is completely reunited, but will that result in bloodshed?

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

As the muted sound of retreating footsteps disappeared into the woods, the 'Old Couple' sat quietly in their house. For several moments after the 'escort' was well gone nothing moved, then suddenly in a flurry of cloth Sephiroth launched himself at Zack,

"Zackary!! I'm going to slaughter you!" The Ex-General snarled, Zack, of course expecting the attack dodged nimbly over the couch. Vincent gasped as the sudden harsh movements sent fire across his numerous bruises. Hearing the noise, Sephiroth hesitated.

"Can you put me down before you kill him?" Vincent muttered wryly.

"Sure," The silver-haired man snorted, both he and Zack spent the next few moments removing the enveloping 'disguise' from the 'old woman'.

"I think I can stand now…" The gunman muttered as he was being lowered to the ground. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow,

"When I found you… you were all but dead,… broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, numerous gashes, you'd been impaled through your stomach by glass." The silver-haired man insisted. Vincent blinked in surprise as he assessed the listed damages,

"That must be why it took so long…" The crimson-eyed man muttered, The Ex-General's eyebrow raised even further, Vincent heaved a sigh, raising his tainted arm, "The only advantage to my demons… I heal much faster than a normal man." His two hosts looked impressed, and finally complying with Vincent's wishes they helped him to his feet. He stood, somewhat shakily, swaying only slightly as he found his balance again. Truth be told he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and rest, the extensive healing took a lot of energy. But he did not feel comfortable as a 'burden', these men were trying to avoid discovery, he now mostly believed their tale. Certainly 'Sephiroth' was not the man Vincent had once seen him as. The silver-haired man in question stepped forward, gesturing to Vincent's borrowed shirt,

"May I?" He asked softly, Vincent blinked once and then realized he meant to inspect the wounds, The gunman simply nodded. With brisk efficiency Sephiroth removed the shirt and gently unwound the wrappings and bandages, Green eyes widened in astonishment as he gazed on the 'wounds'. The deep punctures were no more than angry red lines, unlikely to even leave a scar. Broken bones had become purple bruises, the skeleton firmly knitted back together. Other than a certain paleness and an obvious exhaustion Vincent appeared to have suffered little more than a nasty stumble.

"Good Cetra…" Zack breathed, Sephiroth nodded mutely, "That's simply amazing!"

Sephiroth just shook his head, "You said Hojo did this to you?" Vincent's face darkened,

"He did far more than just that…" The gunman half-snarled, raising his taloned and discolored hand before Sephiroth's face. "He stole more from me than you could possibly know." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, his mouth hardening into a thin line,

"I think I can imagine…" The silver-haired swordsman muttered frigidly,

"WELL then…" Zack interrupted quickly, "Since we all know Hojo is a pug-faced, fruity, lunatic how about we all make sure he doesn't catch us again?" Vincent raised an eyebrow.

"He's dead…" Zack and Sephiroth both stared,

"What?" They said almost uniformly,

"I killed him…" Vincent proclaimed with a twisted smirk. It was quiet for a few moments before Zack finally sighed heavily,

"Well THAT is an incredible relief!" Sephiroth nodded quickly,

"You've just made yourself a few friends for life Vincent." The Ex-General chuckled, Vincent looked shocked,

"I was avenging someone… you don't owe me anything…" the red-eyed man insisted, Sephiroth snorted skeptically,

"You killed the man who tortured us, … a man who ruined our reputation and forced us into hiding for more than ten years… We owe you a great debt."

"I'm not worthy of such…" Vincent half-growled, Understanding dawned in Zack's eyes,

"You've got an 'I'm a monster' complex don'cha?" The younger swordsman chuckled, Vincent said nothing.

"You can't argue your way out of it," Sephiroth laughed, "I feel I owe you, and you're not going to change my mind. And no, saying that I saved your life will not consider this debt repaid. I'd have done that anyway." Zack nodded emphatically, Vincent simply sighed,

"Regardless of debts and debtors, perhaps we should be considering how best to get out of here… Tseng is not stupid; I doubt he was completely fooled by our act." Sephiroth ran a hand through his silver hair,

"Now that you mention it… I seem to remember he was always a sharp one…"

"Wutaians usually are…" Vincent muttered, a hush fell over them, a slow nod from Zack and Sephiroth as they considered. "I don't need to be carried…" The Ex-Turk added, then glanced down at the pajamas he was still wearing. "But I might need my clothes…" Suddenly Sephiroth flushed and looked away,

"Um… About that…" Vincent raised an eyebrow, Sephiroth sheepishly continued, "Well… I had to tear most of it off you…" Vincent gaped at him, "You were covered in blood and glass and … um… it was mostly shredded anyways…"

"My armor?" The gunman choked,

"Well… Zack tossed the armpeice remember? … and some little wutaian girl ran off with it…" Sephiroth winced in chagrin. Vincent groaned, "As for the Sabaton things you had… I um… they were very damaged…" Actually Sephiroth had taken one look at the pointy armored shoes and had thrown them away with a shudder. He was starting to reconsider if his actions hadn't been a little too hasty, disconcerted by the stunned look on Vincent's face. "Um… But your boots I think I salvaged!" Sephiroth added quickly, "And… maybe your coat? It's pretty torn up though…" He was surprised when Vincent sighed in relief,

"At least I still have the cloak…" He muttered mostly to himself. Sephiroth and Zack exchanged another glance.

"Hey… I bet we could loan you some other clothes… Right Seph?" Zack inserted enthusiastically, Sephiroth nodded,

"You're about my height, I'm sure I can find you something better." That said the silver-haired man disappeared hastily into one of the back rooms, A few moments later he reappeared with folded blue garments, Handing the gunman the shirt first. It was a long-sleeved turtle-neck, which ended up just a little baggy on the slender raven-haired man. The pants were darker, almost indigo and made of thick denim, once again they were loose, Sephiroth simply had a broader build and more muscle mass than Vincent. "Um…" Sephiroth muttered pondering the outfit, "Let me loan you a cloak… yours um… might stand out a lot…" then he jogged back into his room, after brief lull of quiet punctuated only by the rustling of cloth he returned carrying a small stack of black hooded coats. Wrapping one around Vincent's shoulders and tossing a second to Zack, in no time they were all garbed in the concealing attire.

"We use these when it rains and to scout about at night!" Zack explained cheerfully, "We stocked up on extras because they tend to get torn and stuff."

"Well… off we go I guess…" Sephiroth smirked, and leading Vincent to the door they all stepped out.

--------------------------

Cloud walked through the woods, the pale light of early dawn stretched through the trees, painting the forest a cheerless grey. Nanaki loped calmly at his side; the rest of the search party was a little further back. On Tseng's suggestion they were all scouring the woods in one direction, everyone spread just a little apart but still within shouting distance.

Nanaki had mentioned smelling something unusual by the old couple's cabin, this was why the two of them were walking together, intent on investigating without wasting too much of the time they should be searching. It occurred briefly to Cloud that he had never actually caught the elderly pair's name, but he didn't get the chance to ponder this revelation much, because at that moment a shadow moved at the corner of his vision. Cloud froze, holding an arm out to halt Nanaki, sure enough as he peered closer the shadows moved again and Cloud was able to distinguish three black, hooded forms. _Clones?..._ he wondered a little panicky, _Could those be Sephiroth Clones?_ Perhaps this was what Yuffie had seen in the woods… Carefully drawing one of his sword pieces, he slid forward into the shadows himself, eyes locked on the figures. Soundlessly he drew closer, the three people, whoever they were, seemed intent on something in the other direction. Cloud could only thank his luck, so focused was he that the Self-proclaimed soldier didn't notice the gleam of light from the rising sun hitting his sword, one of the figures turned, having spotted said reflection.

"Cloud?" Came a rather surprised voice, the Swordsman froze, staring in shock at the glowing crimson eyes that gazed back at him.

"V-Vincent??" He gasped, the sword piece fell from nerveless fingers, forgotten as the blonde hurled himself ecstatically at his friend. "VINCENT!! You're ALIVE!!" The gunman rocked backward with a grunt at the weight, arms held up stiffly as he was grabbed in a hearty hug. Nanaki padded up grinning broadly as he glanced over Vincent's shocked face, and the demonic hand that protruded from his left sleeve.

"It's good to see you well…" The blood-lion added with a hearty chuckle, Vincent stared down at the Blonde clinging to him, his eyes wide.

"It… It's crying…" The gunman stuttered pointing helplessly at Cloud, "What do I do?" Nanaki started laughing, Vincent frowned glancing back down at the Self-Proclaimed SOLDIER, "Sky ... I-I mean Cloud, please let go…" He muttered, and seemed surprised when Cloud stepped back and stared at him.

"Sky?..." All thoughts were interrupted by a joyous Squeal. A small rocket slammed heavily into Vincent's back, and practically knocked him into Cloud's arms. Yuffie embraced Vincent tightly around neck speaking so fast it took a few moments to understand her,

"VINNEY!! You'realiveI'msohappynowwecanhaveundeadninjababies!!!!!!!!" Vincent's mouth dropped into a silent 'O' of horror, and he choked,

"GET IT OFF!! Get it OFF ME!!" Vincent yelled, flailing at the attached Shinobi. For a moment the other two cloaked figures went unnoticed, one of whom was ducking his head deeper into his cloak almost desperately, The second one, whose lower face was barely visible, was grinning like a madman.

"No one has called me 'Sky' since… " Cloud muttered to himself, lost in thought even as he tried half-heartedly to help remove Yuffie. Zack could resist no longer…

"Hiya Fluff!" The 'second' cloaked man hailed, "Long time no see!" Now it was Cloud's turn to make strangled noises.

"Z… Z-Zack??!!" The blonde stared in disbelief as Zack flipped the hood back, grinning exactly like Cloud had always remembered… stupidly. "How…" He breathed, "Where... … I thought you were dead!!" Cloud thrust an accusing finger at the black-haired swordsman, "I SAW you die!"

"Well, you see… it's a really long story" Zack began, but was interrupted by the rapid crunching of boots against pine-needles.

"Yo Cloud!" Cid yelled waving at the Blonde in question, "Tseng says Sephiroth's been sighted around here!" Reno burst in a moment later,

"I knew I'd seen something… He might be over near where those Old Farts live!" The red-head gasped. The remaining hooded figure started. The movement caught the attention of a certain young Shinobi, who had been unhappily displaced from Vincent's back. After staring for a few moments at the tall man she suddenly leapt back with a shriek,

"It's SEPHIROTH!!" In an instant she had her giant Shurikan ready, Sephiroth jumped, stepping backwards quickly,

"What?" Cloud whirled, drawing another piece of the First Tsurugi,

"WAIT!" Vincent interrupted, stepping between Sephiroth and the others. More were gathering even as he watched, the trees quickly becoming crowded by curious eyes as Tifa, Rude, Barret, and Cait Sith joined them. "It's not what you think…" Vincent muttered quickly, The newcomers stared,

"Vincent? You're alive??" Tifa gasped, Barret grinned enthusiastically,

"Is that… or is that not, Sephiroth?" Cloud growled, eyes locked on the Cloaked man.

"Sephiroth?" Came the gasp and mutters, Vincent almost groaned as Tseng and Elena finally caught up. Everyone was here now.

"Yes it's Sephiroth…" Vincent admitted slowly,

"Slow Down Scud…" Zack murmered holding out his hands placatingly to Cloud.

"It's Cloud." The blonde snapped quickly, but he couldn't help but smile. "Vincent… if that's Sephiroth…"

"It's not the Sephiroth you think it is!" Vincent interrupted,

"Uh… what are you trying to say Vince… how many Sephiroth's can there be" Barret asked in blatant confusion.

"A lot actually…" Sephiroth finally stepped forward, dropping the hood from his face. "You see… there was this town called Nibelheim…" He began. Suddenly a small arsenal of weapons were pointing at him.

"I KNOW ABOUT NIBELHEIM!!" Cloud roared, fury edging into his face, "That was my HOME!! You DESTROYED IT!" Sephiroth took several steps back, staring at Cloud in shock. "MOVE Vincent!" The blonde snarled, "Let me finish this once and for all!"

"I will not…" The gunman grated,

"Me neither Squall…" Zack said, his seriousness belied by his smile,

"It's Cloud…"

"Who are YOU?" Reno snapped, staring at the raven-haired swordsman,

"Eh?" Zack looked up, blinking in momentary confusion, "Whad'rya aisken thait for youn……" Zack froze, noticing his sub-concious accent slip mere moments before Reno.

"YOU!!!" The red-head snarled murderously, "I'll KILL YOU!" Lunging across the ground the Turk whipped his mag-rod at Zack, who promptly yelped and bolted away,

"Help me Seph, HELP!!" He cried dodging through the trees around the group. Sephiroth laughed heartily,

"Serves you right Zack! Take it like a man!" The Silver-haired warrior called, Cloud froze, staring again at the man who SHOULD have been his arch-nemesis… The crazed, destruction-obsessed Sephiroth had never laughed like that… but distant and faded memories told Cloud that the _General_ Sephiroth had… Eyes narrowing he lowered his sword ever so slightly,

"Sephy?" He asked suspiciously, Sephiroth whirled,

"It's SEPHIROTH!" He snapped, glaring daggers at the blonde. Cloud fell backwards in shock, landing hard on his rump without noticing or caring.

"By the Planet…" He breathed, "Could there really be more than one?" Sephiroth paused smiling slightly,

"I was trying to tell you… just before that whole Nibelheim thing… I was captured, the man who destroyed everything was a Clone." Barret interrupted with a string of swearwords.

"I'm not about to believe that all of those battles were against a CLONE!!"

"Are you trying to say a Clone killed Aeris?" Tifa snapped,

"And what about the Black Materia!" Yuffie added, which earned her a raised eyebrow from Cid.

"The who and the what?" Sephiroth asked, staring at them in bafflement. "I don't know about that… but it WAS a Clone… and it was possessed by JENOVA… and…"

"How do you know YOU aren't the Clone?" Tseng asked softly, Sephiroth smiled,

"Trust me I know, I'm not the Clone…" But just as Sephiroth was assuring them, Zack dashed through the crowd to cower behind the taller silver-haired man, staring in horror-filled realization at Tseng,

"WE might be the Clones?" Zack choked,

"No… We're not the …" Sephiroth tried vainly to forstall that train of thought.

"I'm not REAL??!!" The Ex-SOLDIER gasped in horror,

"No Zack, we are the…" Sephiroth started,

"WHAT ABOUT ALL MY MEMORIES!!" Zack wailed, grabbing ahold of the front of Sephiroth's cloak and shaking the taller man.

"Zack! We are perfectly…" Sephiroth wheezed, trying to dislodge the frantic grip.

"ALL this TIME I thought I was a person!!" The raven-haired man carried on.

"ZACKARY!!" Sephiroth shouted, "We AREN'T…"

"I'm just a USELESS FAKE!!" Zack dramatized,

"We… Oh forget it!" Sephiroth finally snapped, "Just kill me please!" He turned pleading eyes to Cloud who was staring with the most unusual and strained look on his face.

"Cloud?" Tifa asked questioningly, but the Blonde never took his eyes off of Zack and Sephiroth, after a moment his shoulders started shaking, and then small chuckles escaped his lips. Before the rest of the group could do more than stare on in shock, Cloud threw his head back and roared with laughter.

"Spikey?" Barret's eyebrows shot upwards, "You okay Spikey?"

"Cloud… is LAUGHING??" Yuffie was shocked, Nanaki also stared,

"He seems to be enjoying himself," The Blood-Lion observed with a chuckle, Tseng was still quietly watching Vincent, after several moments he stepped forward.

"Vincent… you vouch for this man?" He asked softly, The Ex-Turk nodded, Tseng heaved a sigh. "Then the Turks will not touch him… for the moment."

"Tseng! What are you Saying?? The President…" Elena gasped in shock.

"Vincent saved our lives…" Tseng gazed piercingly at the younger blonde, "Or have you forgotten about Kadaj?" Elena bowed her head, falling into silence.

"What about you Cloud…" Cid interrupted resting his lance impatiently against his shoulder, "You believe this whole 'clone' thing?" Cloud wheezed, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes,

"It's Zack… I always thought Zack was dead, … and this Sephiroth acts different." He explained disjointedly,

"Smells different too…" Nanaki muttered,

"Really?" Tifa's eyes widened, the Blood-Lion nodded,

"I can't smell as much JENOVA taint, and he sounds remarkably rational…" The others considered this for several moments.

"Okay, so supposing this is a 'different' Sephiroth" Barret began hesitantly,

"Original," Sephiroth muttered, But his protest was ignored,

"How do we know he's not gonna go crazy like the others?" The black man finished,

"We'd have to keep an eye on him…" Tifa added quickly,

"I don't have the time for that…" Cloud muttered,

"I do." Vincent said softly. The others turned to stare at him,

"How would you do that Vince?" Cid interrupted, Vincent shrugged,

"I wouldn't feel right about Vincent staying way out here…" Tifa added, "If something DID go wrong, we couldn't get here very fast."

"Well… how about them two stay with Vincent?" Cid suggested,

"Would you be okay with that Vince?" Barret queried,

"Uh…" Vincent began,

"I'm not having any GAY weirdo SOLDIER staying at my…" Yuffie fumed

"Sure." Vincent decided quickly, his softly insistent comment cutting through everyone else's chatter. Suddenly Cait Sith frowned,

"Um… Vinney,… where DO you live these days?" The Cat Doll muttered,

"…" The gunman went silent for a few moments, "I stay with Cloud and Tifa sometimes…"

"Vincent…" Tifa began with a raised eyebrow, "You've only actually stayed over night about three times… in the last,… year?"

"Cid and Shera…" The Ex-Turk hastily amended,

"Hey! That two day slumber party doesn't count!" The pilot interjected.

"And the W.R.O. headquarters is still under repairs…" The Cait Sith doll added quickly. Sephiroth turned a quizzical gaze on the gunman.

"So… where DO you live?" The silver haired man inquired. Suddenly Nanaki's eyes widened,

"You don't still… sleep in that… Coffin, do you?" The blood lion asked quietly.

"Whoa… wait… Coffin? What??" Zack interrupted incredulously,

"Well at least it has that velvet lining I gave him!" Yuffie added proudly.

"Uh,.. actually…"

"You don't USE it??" The Shinobi gasped,

"… wrong size…" He offered lamely.

"Wait… the one in… Nibelheim?" Cloud confirmed. "In the basement of the Shinra mansion?" Sephiroth and Zack both stared,

"…" Said Vincent.

"Well that counts that place out." Sephiroth stated firmly, and then Cloud, in a rare moment of lucidity added,

"Maybe you should get an apartment, … in town. You know,… get a job, and actually… well… socialize for a change."

"like what? An errand boy? On his RUINED bike?!" Yuffie snapped irritably, "Oh yeah, that's JUST what he needs! He'd probably be traumatized just going NEAR the thing!"

"YUFFIE!!" Tifa fumed, "Vincent is NOT dead, he did NOT get eaten by Sephiroth, he didn't get sucked into the ground NOR did he get Mauled by wild animals!!! Enough is ENOUGH!!"

"Get OFF my case, Top Heavy! This isn't about …!!" Yuffie stopped her arguments with a shriek as Tifa launched a furious assault on the girl. Cloud yelped standing to get out of the way.

"So…" Sephiroth said after dragging his stunned gaze from the two young women, "Does that mean you aren't going to try and kill me?" Cloud sighed,

"No… not right now anyways," The blonde demurred. Sephiroth smiled brilliantly,

"Tifa… Yuffie… GIRLS!" Barret was shouting, trying get between the females who were chasing one another around the group. "This 'aint the time for a cat-fight…" The two whirled to glare at the huge man,

"Stay OUTTA this Barret!" Yuffie snapped,

Vincent groaned softly, closing his eyes as he tried to convince himself he was in an enjoyable environment. Suddenly Cloud's phone began to ring. Cid spat an impolite word,

"Dang it Cloud, answer your phone already… that's about the hundredth time!" The pilot snorted irritably.

"Phone?" Zack's head snapped up, "Fluff has a phone?" A certain gleam entered the Ex-SOLDIER's eye as he dashed forward and snatched said device from Cloud's pocket,

"Hey!" Cloud cried trying to seize the phone back. "Give me that!" Zack dodged backwards flipping the cell phone open,

"Hello? Hello?" The black-haired man half-shouted into the receiver, as he skirted away from Cloud's reaching hands.

"Cloud?" Came the voice on the other end, it was feminine.

"It's your girlfriend!" Zack pronounced impishly. Cloud dove at him with a roar,

"Is Cid there??" Asked the rather confused woman.

"I don't know any Cid…" Zack said ducking his friend's flailing arms.

"Is that Shera?" Cid gasped, head jerking up as he tried to follow the two young men's progression.

"Is this Shera??" Zack relayed, grinning as he sidestepped another swipe from the blonde.

"Yes… who is this?" Shera queried,

"Hi! My name's Zack! I'm an old friend of Cloud's…" The Ex-SOLDIER began,

"GIVE ME THAT!" Cloud howled, Diving bodily at the raven-haired swordsman, With a shout they both went down, crashing painfully into Vincent, the phone went flying and skittered across the ground. Vincent groaned, standing slowly, he had previously been chanting a mantra of "I'm in a happy place…" over an over, … but his efforts to forestall the insistent demonic voices were quickly proving futile.

"It's not so happy..." Vincent muttered under his breath, even as he was dragging himself off the ground, Cloud and Zack had rolled away, both wrestling each other like young boys. "Not happy…" Vincent hissed. A pair of green eyes watched him carefully,

"Are you okay?" Sephiroth asked softly, before he had been content simply to watch, but now he felt a certain unease considering the man before him. The Ex-General's gaze shifted slowly to Vincent's left hand, which was convulsing almost violently, his eyes widened as he noted the claws growing longer, Vincent's pupils had contracted to mere pinpricks of black, his eyes slowly bleeding redder even as Sephiroth watched. Backing up quickly he glanced around, "Uh… Guys?" The Ex-General entreated, but most of them were still otherwise occupied, Cloud and Zack still wrestled, hurling insults at each other as they rolled on the forest floor, Tifa and Yuffie were arguing under their breaths, and Cid had managed to grab up Cloud's Cell phone.

"Shera? Shera?? Is that you?" The pilot called into the receiver,

"Cid?" Came the immediate reply,

"Oh thank the Planet!" The spearman sighed in relief,

"Where have you BEEN Cid?" Shera exclaimed in exasperation.

"Vincent went missing…" The pilot started to explain.

"Your co-pilot told me about that…" Shera interrupted, "Is he okay?"

"Yeah we found him, he's fine! He…" Cid went silent, his eyes widened as he stared at the spectacle before him. In his attempt to hold off the worst of his demons Vincent had missed the 'hunger' and the red feral haze dropping over him. An ear-shattering roar punctuated the transformation, the deep purple hide and red mane gleaming in the morning sun. For a few brief moments Cid gaped at it, "Oh Sh-…!"


	13. To Die For

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 13: To Die For

Chapter Summary: A celebration no more…

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Shera paced anxiously across her kitchen floor. Her infant son Orlandu slept peacefully in his cradle on the table. She did not worry about him, as he lay under the watchful eye of Reeve who was smiling at the dozing form. Flicking her brown hair out of her face she strode once again to the phone. She had already called several dozen times in an effort to contact her husband, but each and every attempt ended with her speaking to the bewildered Co-Pilot. Cid had left his phone in the ship, and Cloud… who was supposed to be with her spouse, refused to answer his. Shera sighed as she dialed the number once again. She couldn't stop trying… no one had contacted her all night. _Ring… ring…_ she sighed heavily, Cloud's phone would go to answering on the fifth_.. Ring… ring…_

"Hello? Hello?" A man's voice answered, Shera blinked stunned for a moment, the voice didn't sound familiar.

"Cloud?" She queried softly? She heard a lot of clamor and some scuffling noises on the other end.

"Is Cid there??" She asked quickly,

"I don't know any Cid…" The voice gasped, full of humor. Shera was starting to lose her patience. She vaughly thought she heard Cid's voice in the background, and pressed the phone to her ear.

"Is this Shera?" The unknown man wheezed.

"Yes… who is this?" She demanded,

"Hi! My name's Zack! I'm an old friend of Cloud's…" The man proclaimed enthusiastically, cut off by a series of loud noises and cracking sounds. Suddenly there was silence,

"Hello? Zack?? Cid??" Shera called into the receiver,

"Zack?" Reeve questioned, raising his head to look at her, she tossed him a harried glance, and unable to explain it herself she clicked on the button for 'speaker phone', Placing her handset down.

"Zack? Are you there?" She urged again. She could hear the background racket much better now, and the scuffling and insults reached her ears, Considerably confused she went silent for several moments. Suddenly there was crunching noises, rather like hurried footsteps

"Shera? Shera?? Is that you?" Came Cid's almost frantic voice.

"Cid?" Shera gasped.

"Oh thank the Planet!" Her husband sighed in relief. So many thoughts whirled through her mind, he was alive! he was okay! _… Why hadn't he called??_

"Where have you BEEN Cid?" Shera exclaimed in exasperation.

"Vincent went missing…" The pilot started to explain.

"Your co-pilot told me about that…" Shera interrupted, but she paused as she thought of the quiet gunman. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah we found him, he's fine! He…" Cid went suddenly silent, rapid shouts ensued from further off, and a roar suddenly filled the room. Shera jumped, startled backwards, and young Orlandu woke suddenly crying loudly. "Oh Sh-BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPP" Came from the phone, the sound of several touchtone buttons being clenched at once. As the ringing died Shera looked behind her, Reeve was gently rocking the cradle cooing at her infant son, who was slowly settling under the man's attention. Turning back to the speaker phone she stared,

"Vincent! Vincent! Calm down!!" She heard the shouts, another howl punctuated the cries.

"What's going on?!" Came the stranger Zack's voice.

"Run Yuffie RUN!!" Barret seemed to yell. The young Ninja's shriek was audible.

"Vincent's Limit Break!" She heard Cloud explain. More grunts and crashes,

_BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG… _Rang through the receiver,

"STOP SHOOTING!!" She heard Cid bellow, "You're just gonna make him mad!" More roars and a series of oaths.

"Which voice is that?" An unfamiliar Tenor inquired.

"That one doesn't talk!" Nanaki shouted. Shera blinked several times.

"IT'S GONNA EAT US!!!" Zack's Voice shrieked. More screaming ensued,

"Ack ! Don't run TOWARDS it beastie! Where are you going?!" Cait Sith whined, Reeve's eyebrow shot up.

"NO! No! That One's…" The tenor tried to shout,

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!" Zack wailed,

"Don't run!! You'll only make him chase you!!" Tifa cried. _BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG_

"BARRET STOP SHOOTING!!!" Shera's husband hollered

"That's the WEAKEST ONE Zack!!" yelled the strange tenor

"WATCH OUT!!" Cloud shouted! A horrified screech echoed, followed by more snarls, barks and growls.

"Sorry Shera!" Cid suddenly yelped into the receiver, "Tense situation… I'll be home soon, gotta go!" Another roar and more gunshots

"Stop shooting laddie! You're gonna …" Cait Sith shouted, and then abruptly the line went dead. The room went suddenly quiet, only the soft sniffling of young Orlandu and Reeve's comforting murmur held absolute silence at bay.

"I am never… going to throw a party again." Shera said quietly, Reeve glanced up at her, reaching one hand into a half-eaten bag of potato chips and lavishly dunking one flake into a half-full bowl of sauce. Another similar bowl sat emptied on the other side of the table.

"But Shera… This onion dip…" The man explained playfully, "It's just… TO DIE for!" Shera glanced at him and sighed, smiling as he continued to help himself to the snacks.

THE END!

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((Author's Note: Thank You so much for reading my first fan fiction! If you've gotten this far than I would assume you've taken the time to read all of it!

Please tell me what you think: Leave me a Review, don't be afraid to be harsh! Constructive Criticism is more than welcome!

This is not the end! The story won't just HALT here! I have a Sequel in progress, and later I will add an "Epilogue" for this story as well. So please write me a Review so I know what to fix and work on.

I would also like to offer special thanks to **Kysic**, and **CornCob**, for their consistent reviews and commentary. And to all of the rest of you at for the over 1,000 Hits and 20 reviews! My story ended up at a little over 21,000 words. Thank you so much for being patient with me!

P.S. http://thesaurus. is a completely awesome site for writing ANYTHING! XD ))


	14. Epilogue Part 1 – Galian Beast

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 14: Epilogue Part 1 – Galian Beast

Chapter Summary: Vincent's Limit Break's don't play nicely...

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

EPILOGUE!! ((yes once more I'm going to start at that eventful moment in the clearing, please bear with me this will hopefully help everything make perfect sense. ))

Vincent pulled back quietly as the ruckus began, somehow he wasn't in the least surprised that Zack had started it. He flexed his left hand slowly, he felt naked without his glove and gauntlet, the air tickled against the soft fur that grew along his forearm. His crimson eyes slowly followed Zack and Cloud's progression around the clearing, the rising sun was bathing the area in a welcoming orange glow, Vincent winced, the light was not particularly intense but it only served to amplify his already growing headache. He knew he was ready for a 'Limit Break'. He'd been injured more than enough, the only thing holding back the demons before was his own weakened physical state. Now they all clamored noisily in the back of his head. Everything felt overly warm and bright, he winced again, closing his eyes for a moment. This, unfortunately only served to blind Vincent to the incoming wrestling men.

The gunman was slammed into the tree he had been leaning against, his still-healing body screaming in protest against the rough treatment. Even as he slid downward Cloud and Zack rolled away, continuing their childish banter, while remaining oblivious to any possible injury they might have inflicted on the Ex-Turk. The outside noises seemed to dim, his vision blurring slightly as Vincent rose slowly back to his feet, there was a growing pressure in his head, an oppressive darkness just behind his eyes. He knew the feeling and immediately dreaded it.

**_Time to kill… To rip them to shreds… What a glorious Morning this will be…_** Hellmasker rasped gleefully.

**_Now they will have proof of your monstrous nature… what more would they need to see than this?_** Chaos mocked.

**_This is boring…_** was all Death Gigas deigned to input.

Frantically Vincent pushed them away, focusing on preventing their release. He couldn't even imagine the sort of carnage any of them would inflict, Hellmasker and Chaos in particular. The latter laughed uproariously at Vincent's attempts to hold him back. This was all a game to him… Vincent felt his head begin to pound, _how much longer could he suppress them? _His vision began to darken even further. This certainly wouldn't end well if he…. Suddenly his eyes snapped downward, His vision wasn't just darkening… it had been tingeing RED! He had only the barest of moments to glance up at Sephiroth who stood next to him. The silver-haired Ex-General was staring at him uncertainly, Vincent couldn't blame him. In his attempt to hold off the worst of his demons Vincent had neglected Galian Beast… The rage, the hunger… the only one who never spoke…

Vincent felt his fingers twisting into claws, the bones in his back and spine cracking and popping as they elongated. His transformation should have been painful, but for some reason he felt only a strange numbness, his body going suddenly cold as his clothing dissolved and reformed into Galion Beast's thick purple hide. He felt the bubbling in his throat and instinct pulled his head back, his mouth opened wide even as his jaw and face erupted with teeth. A deep throaty roar spilled from his newly formed muzzle, his limbs twisting and reshaping even as he barbarically proclaimed his power. A long thick tail slid into place from his spine, his hair bled down his back brilliantly red against his current body's violet hue. When his head dropped back down turning to gaze at Sephiroth once more, his transformation was complete. Galion Beast's glowing eyes gazed hungrily at the Silver-haired man, baring its teeth in a demonic grin.

Galian Beast, while he never spoke, was not actually stupid. Its predatorial mind surveyed the clearing in fascination. Sephiroth's slitted green gaze stared right back at him when their eyes met. Many of the others had frozen taking sudden note of the demonic monster's presence. Yuffie was the first to move, with her trained Ninja reflexes she leapt into the trees, Galian's head snapped to face the movement, leaping into action the demon barreled past Sephiroth, causing the swordsman to dive out of the way. Someone started shouting, Galian ignored it, As Galian moved everyone else seem to snap out of their dazes and finally react. Cloud and Zack leapt to their feet, Sephiroth glanced around for something to use as a weapon. Yuffie finally realized Galian was after her and screamed, the chase was on… The purple demon was amazingly fast, leaping the length of the clearing in a bound. It clawed it's way up the trunk of the tree Yuffie sat in, its massive talons ripping the branches from the trunk when it passed, snarling as it approached where Yuffie huddled. The slender Ninja delivered one kick to his muzzle before leaping away, Galian Beast tried to chase her, but found much to its disappointment that it couldn't wedge itself through the thick branches that nimbly. It had to drop from the tree, grumbling its frusteration.

It fully intended to continue the chase even as it's taloned feet hit the ground. But an explosion of sound and small barrage of painful stinging bites caught its attention. Galian whirled with a roar. Barret stood his one hand steadying his gun arm, Glaring at the massive demon, A low growl issued from deep in Galian's throat, he flexed his hand-like claws. Barret set his weapon to powering up just as Galian tensed to spring, and then Zack began screaming. Sudden movement caught the demon's attention, now the Ex-SOLDIER was running… A feral grin split the beast's purple muzzle, the little bites didn't bother it overly much, but the thrill of the chase was too much to resist. Without any more warning Galian bounded after Zack with a guttural roar, the terrified shriek the black-haired swordsman uttered was absolutely delicious… Another several claps of painful noise and more nicks and bites let Galian know that Barret hadn't given up. The clearing was absolutely full of shouts and movement now. Galian swiped at Zackary's fleeing form, his claws raking shreds from the Ex-SOLDIER's shirt but missing the flesh. The raven-haired swordsman squeaked in alarm, Galian simply grinned.

This second chase was interrupted when pain seared through Galian's leg, snarling he whirled just in time to watch Nanaki's fangs release from the demon's thigh and the great cat leap out of range. _That one had HURT!_ Another flash of movement whirled Galian back around to the front, the purple beast ducked almost instinctively dodging Cid's lance, the next swing from the spear-man found Galian's teeth locking onto the shaft of his weapon. Growling past the obstruction in its mouth the demon lashed out with his massive claws, his left arm wreathed itself in flame as it came. Cold metal wrapped painfully around Galian's blazing hand as Barret grabbed the claws just before the Purple-beast could sink them into Cid's shoulder. Galian gnarled indignantly, chewing ineffectively on the metal shaft of Cid's lance. The demon hesitated when Cid's gaze shifted, glancing at something over Galian's left shoulder, when Barret's eyes also turned the same direction the demon knew something was up. In one motion he leapt backwards, releasing Cid's weapon and yanking his left arm forcibly from Barret's grasp. Galian felt fire burst across his shoulder as a blade grazed the bone there. An ear-splitting roar punctuated his pain as Galian skittered even further away.

Now standing before Galian Beast was Sephiroth, the Ex-General had somehow gotten a hold of one of the pieces of Cloud's First Tsurugi, brandishing the blade which now sported a line of red across the tip. Galian snarled, not liking this turn of events at all. He took a moment to gaze around the clearing once more, Tifa and Nanaki stood off to one side, Yuffie was no where to be seen, Cid, Barret, and now Sephiroth stood in front of him, and… Galian leapt straight up into the air when a twig snapped behind him. He wasn't about to fall for that one twice! Sure enough Cloud stumbled forward swinging his sword through the space Galian had previously occupied. Unfortunately the blonde was quick-witted enough to keep moving, so when the demon's purple form dropped back down his own claws met with empty air. His tail lashed behind him, revealing his frustration. Now all his enemies were before him, and his intended prey behind the lot of them. Zack's spiky black hair poked up behind cid as the Ex-SOLDIER glanced nervously at the monster. Galian grinned baring its teeth, licking across his long fangs and thrilling at the whimper his actions incurred. Now to get past the problem of Sephiroth and the others, the Ex-General was only armed with the one blade, and Cloud also only had one piece of the First Tsurugi in his hands. Galian smirked again, it was worth a few scratches to hear the little black-haired one scream…

Without warning the Demon launched itself forward, Racing along on all fours as it tore towards the warriors. Sephiroth was the first to react, and Galian expected this… He ducked towards the ground as he tensed for his next bound, the silver-haired man's blade skimmed painfully over his back, digging into the thick flesh on his left side, but another leap took him out of range of the Ex-General, Cloud's sword left a rather nice gouge in Galian's right arm, Cid managed a glancing blow against his shoulder and Nanaki barely missed his hamstrings… Galian took a single moment to whip his arm forcibly against Barret, sending the bulky man flying before he could fire his annoying gun again. Then he was free! Blood oozed from his various wounds but he didn't care, his goal was right before him, and Zack's eyes were wide with terror. With exactly the shriek Galian was looking for the young raven-haired swordsman took off, the Demon was in fast pursuit. Even the rather painful bullets that fired unexpectedly from the trees didn't slow the demon down, somewhere in the back of his mind Vincent recognized the gunshots as Turk issue pistols, but that didn't matter to Galian. In one more bound he wrapped his claws around Zackary's shoulders, throwing the young man to the ground. The man was screaming hoarsely, thrashing futiley against Galian's mass. Leaning his head down the demon Tore into Zack's shirt with his teeth, ripping it forcibly from the young man's body, before shaking it and tossing it away, Deciding to indulge in more torment Galian gave the exposed flesh a considering sniff, then ran his tongue along the man's spine for a taste.

Unexpectedly, the Demon's delight ended without warning, in it's glee it had the misfortune to decide to 'taste' Zack's hair. One swipe of his massive tongue and Galian realized his miscalculation. Rolling off of the Man in absolute disgust Galian gagged, the taste now filling his mouth was revolting! So revolting in fact that the demon hacked, eventually throwing up whatever meal Vincent had recently eaten. Staggering away from the shocked Zackary with a groan, the purple beast tossed the Black-haired swordsman a detesting glare. Much to everyone else's surprise, Sephiroth started laughing, Galian glared at him too. Snorting and growling the Demon leveled an outraged glower at the lot of them before taking off into the woods. Once there it was happy to vent it's frustrations out on the nearby monsters and wildlife.

Nearly half an hour later a rather ragged-looking Vincent Valentine returned to the clearing…

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((Author's note: This story will have AT LEAST one more chapter coming! XD I just couldn't fit all this fascinating information into one, once this is finished then I'll be working on the Sequel, which is coming out REALLY cool to my plotting mind! :D ))


	15. Epilogue Part 2 – Lucretia

It's Good to be Alive! – Chapter 15: Epilogue Part 2 – Lucretia

Chapter Summary: A probable truth about Vincent and Sephiroth's past.

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7. They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) amusements.

Vincent Staggered through the forest, wondering idly if this day could get any worse… He felt physically drained, and rather sick. He was certain he never wanted to discover what exactly it was that Zack had decided to put in his hair… He could still taste it even now! After what seemed like an eternity, the gunman's sense of direction proved reliable and he lurched into the Clearing. Many sets of eyes glanced up, some apprehensively and others with obvious relief. Vincent simply nodded finding a relatively straight tree to prop himself against.

Tifa edged close enough to speak in an undertone. "Are you alright?" Vincent nodded again. A quick survey of the gathered people showed him the Turks were no longer present. As though reading his mind Nanaki stepped forward.

"Tseng decided to take the other Turks and leave…" The Blood-Lion explained, "He didn't want to leave Rufus alone for too long, and he said there was no more need for his people to be out here." Vincent quirked his lips into a smile, though none of them could see it. After he'd reverted from his transformation he'd been once again garbed in his red cape. Strangely enough he was also still wearing the borrowed clothing, including the hooded cape, which had proven very interesting to remove. The shredding caused by his tumble down the mountain had still been there also, and the garment was becoming increasingly unsightly. This was noted by another person as well.

"That cape is a piece of JUNK!" Zack cut in, Sephiroth looked like he wanted to ask how Vincent had gotten it back, but for some reason refrained. Unbeknownst to the Gunman, Sephiroth was reviewing all the steps he had taken to dispose of the ragged article of clothing, and was vowing if he ever had the opportunity again, that he would light the effrontery on fire.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that Vincent…" Cloud interjected hesitantly, "Why exactly do you wear that thing all the time?" Vincent sighed inwardly as he noticed the sudden interest from the group of faces before him.

"… It was a gift…" The gunman admitted reluctantly,

"A gift?" Sephiroth repeated,

"From whom?" Tifa responded,

"…" Said Vincent, pausing once more and shifting his gaze away from the curious faces, light suddenly dawned in Tifa's eyes.

"Lucretia gave it to you… didn't she?" The brown-haired martial artist confirmed quietly. Vincent nodded mutely; Sephiroth suddenly glanced up in surprise,

"Wait… my MOM gave you that thing?" Vincent returned the shocked look,

"You knew Lucretia was…." The Gunman's murmur was barely audible, Sephiroth snorted in response,

"What about JENOVA?" Cloud added quickly

"I'm not stupid… Despite what Hojo seemed to think. There's no way that mutated corpse was maternally related to me." Sephiroth scoffed. Vincent fell silent, his right arm fingering the tattered cloak with familiarly.

"So…." Zack interposed glancing back and forth from Vincent to Sephiroth, "Lemme get this straight…. Sephy's Mom gave you the coat thing right?" Vincent glanced up and after a moment he nodded, Zack continued, "And yet, … If I've heard correctly, Sephy's mom died shortly after he was born… right?" A pained expression passed over Vincent's face, and he nodded again silently. "So…. That makes you old enough… to be his DAD!!" Zack concluded with a broad grin, his eyes pointedly traveling between the two similarly built faces. Sephiroth choked,

"What?" The Ex-General raised an eyebrow.

"He knew your mom!" Zack repeated,

"That doesn't mean ANYTHING Zack…" Sephiroth snorted,

"But they apparently exchanged gifts… and Lucretia was important enough to Vinny that he is STILL wearing the coat she gave him! ... And LOOK! He's BLUSHING!!" Zack pointed out excitedly, Drawing attention to the fact that a flush had indeed risen to the normally pale face.

"This is ridiculous Zack." Sephiroth scolded, glaring futilely at his ex-subordinate.

"What if he really IS your Dad?" Zack enthused, "Would that be so terrible??"

"I'm not." Vincent interrupted, "I'm not his father…" His tone was almost sad, which gave Zack pause,

"Oh… So you and Lucretia weren't that close then?" The raven haired swordsman inquired, Sephiroth choked. Vincent's face seemed to redden further.

"I... No… She said I wasn't the Father…" He admitted reluctantly, his face sinking slowly lower into the high collar of his cloak.

"Yeah, Hojo said he was Sephiroth's father." Cloud added unconcerned by the delicacy of the matter. Sephiroth made a strangled noise in his throat, and Zack turned to gawk at his blonde friend, the glance held a mixture of shock, horror and pity, almost as though he knew Cloud's death was imminent.

"NO!! … Nooooo…" Sephiroth snapped, shaking his head violently and clasping his hands to his face as if to block out the images, Suddenly he whirled grabbing Cloud by the shirt collar, "Do I really LOOK like Hojo?" He snarled, Cloud stared at the transformation, frozen in shock, even angry this Sephiroth was different from the 'Clone' they had chased before. However the seething rage was not exactly comforting.

"Well… you kinda have a pointy face like…." Yuffie began, having cocked her head to one side as though considering. She never finished the sentence as the next moment a disgusted and infuriated Ex-General bodily hurled a certain blonde-haired swordsman at her. With a cry the two went down in a heap of tangled limbs. Picking up his cue Zack quickly intervened,

"So… since it's obviously not Hojo… and all Vincent has to go by is Lucretia's word… who's the better candidate?" Sephiroth growled at him, not even bothering to answer the question or look at Vincent.

"Lucretia said I wasn't…" Vincent began,

"Did she like you?" Zack interrupted,

"…" Vincent replied,

"She gave you the cloak right? And there's the POSSIBILITY there right?"

"…" Vincent repeated,

"Wait." Sephiroth input, suddenly staring at Vincent as though just seeing the man. "Vincent… as in VALENTINE?" Vincent blinked,

"Yes…" The gunman affirmed in mild confusion. Sephiroth eyed him consideringly,

"My Mother always mentioned you…" Vincent choked, his eyes widening, "… In her journals I mean."

"You've read Lucretia's Journals?" Vincent half-whispered,

"Yeah… If Hojo had found them he wouldn't have been happy, but I have them." A look of whistful longing entered Vincent's eyes. He had never had the opportunity to read those books. The thought of perhaps learning a little more about her… "So…" Sephiroth interrupted Vincent's musings calmly, "Valentine… Didn't she also give you some sort of shower set too?" Suddenly Vincent turned a shade of red so intense it bordered on purple, his face almost disappearing into his cloak.

"Shower set?" Zack sniggered,

"After-shave and shampoo and stuff…" Sephiroth explained, eyeing Zack impishly, "Not that you'd know about that anyways…" Zack made a sound of protest. But Sephiroth had already returned his attention to Vincent, "Cinnamon scented right?" the ex-general half-teased. Though he hadn't precisely remembered that detail off-hand, he HAD noticed that Vincent carried that faint scent when he was tending the man's wounds. Either way his guess seemed to hit the mark, Vincent ducked his head and actually raised his demonic hand to cover his face.

"Do you still have it or something? Wouldn't it have run out by now?" Zack prodded.

"…" Vincent began, "I … uh…. Refill it…"

Zack burst into laughter, "GIRLY man! Using your Fru-fru conditioner and stuff!"

"Hey! I use conditioner!" Cid yelled indignantly,

"I use conditioner when I undo the cornrows." Barret added, a little more hesitantly,

"You have to use conditioner… to take care of your hair." Tifa explained, eyeing Zack in a mixture of pity and disgust.

Zack gazed around in shock and hurt dignity, "What about YOU Cloud? You're with me right?"

Cloud scratched at the back of his spiky head. "My hair-gel says it conditions…" Tifa drew away quickly,

"Ugh!! Gross… That's NOT the SAME!" She cried, "…. At ALL…"

"No wait! I use Shampoo too!" Cloud protested,

"Still not the same…" Tifa insisted.

Yuffie, having picked herself up from the ground as well, sidled over to Tifa. "Maybe you should get HIM a shower-set." She jibbed, nudging the martial artist with an exaggerated wink. Tifa rolled her eyes.

Cid, who had been standing contemplatively for some time finally spoke up, "Hang on… So… if this Lucretia chick gave Vin his coat, and she died around when Sephiroth was born and all…. Does that mean that He's been wearing that coat for the last 40 years?"

"Eeeeeewww…." Yuffie, Tifa, and Barret all chimed simultaneously. The latter receiving odd looks from the two girls.

"I wash it!" Vincent huffed.

"While you were in the coffin?" Tifa asked, raising one eyebrow.

Vincent ellipsised.

"eeeewwww…." Repeated Yuffie and Barret, the latter receiving MORE strange look.

"ANYWAY" Zack interrupted tactlessly, "So all Vinny has going on his claim is Lucretia's word." Vincent glowered darkly at this, "But I mean… LOOK at them!" This of course focused many sets of eyes on the two. In an effort to emphasize his point Zackary grabbed Sephiroth's arm and dragged him to stand next to the Gunman. "See? They're almost EXACTLY the same height, they both have lean frames and broad shoulders, pointy noses, long hair, and just about the same face! Planet they even GLARE at me the same way!" Both figures in question were demonstrating said irritable expression, but paused in almost the same instant to allow their faces to smooth into mild annoyance. Noticing this Yuffie, Tifa and Cait Sith sniggered.

"Fine whatever!" Sephiroth huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't think this is the important issue right now anyways."

"Yeah! We need to get Vinny to a hospital!" Yuffie chimed indignantly, Earning her a plethora of confused stares. "What? He was Mauled by rabid animals, and eaten by the earth!!"

"I think Yuffie has been awake too long…" Nanaki observed calmly.

"I'm pretty sure it was Vincent who was doing the mauling." Sephiroth snickered, glancing pointedly at Zack.

"I'm fine Yuffie…" Vincent insisted quietly.

"SHERA'S PARTY!!!" Cid shouted, leaping to his feet. "She's gonna KILL me!!" He quickly dissolved into expletives and foul language as he mentally berated himself, stalking the clearing for good measure. "Let's get goin'! We have a party to go to!" Without waiting for a response and not allowing any argument he ushered the group along. Hiking back up the trail to the mountain roads which would lead out of the mountains and to where his Air Ship Shera waited. It had been an eventful outing that was for sure. And Vincent had the distinct impression there would be more of them coming.

"So if you don't have a 'place'." Sephiroth began cordially as they walked, "Where do you think we'll be staying?" Vincent had almost forgotten his agreement to keep an eye on Sephiroth, and shrugged accordingly. "I have some money stashed away… I suppose we could always rent a place…"

"You have MONEY?" Zackary gawked, "And you didn't TELL me?"

"You'd have squandered it just like you did with all your paychecks!" Sephiroth snorted, "I invested mine, and saved a good portion away."

"I have money…" Vincent insisted, "I haven't found use for it before, so I suppose an apartment works."

"It'll be good to have you back in Society Vincent" Tifa added, having sidled close enough to overhear the conversation.

"So it's settled then." Sephiroth announced.

"HEY!" Zack interposed, "What about me?"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "What ABOUT you?" But Tifa quickly forstalled a possible conflict.

"Zack can stay with Me and Cloud for a while… I know Cloud would love to catch up on things!" Zack blinked a few times in surprise and then grinned,

"Yeah… I guess Vinny and Sephy need their 'father-son bonding' time." Vincent sighed and Sephiroth groaned, Zack would be Zack… Both idly wondered where this strange new future would lead. In any event, they were alive… and that was good at least.

THE END!!!! (For real this time)

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((Author's note: Alright, this is the real, _real_ ending to this fanfic, I hope you all enjoyed it! The Sequel should be coming up pretty soon! It's called, "No Longer A Memory" so keep an eye out for it! It will be longer, and a little more serious than this one. With some interesting plot points and at least one Original Character, which you guys have already met. XD ))


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